


The hunter and the beast

by lexax



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Ardyn being a prick as usual, Beauty and the Beast AU, Complete, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kinda, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Scars, beast noctis, but hes trying, but its never that easy with me, but theres like elements of beauty and the beast in there, by both bois, cause i live for that shiizz, gotta have some of that aint i?, grumpy Noctis, hunter prompto, just bear with me on this, some self confidence issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-03-26 15:34:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 83,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13860717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lexax/pseuds/lexax
Summary: Prompto Argentum was taught three things in his life: how to kill without making a sound, how to trap a beast in a vulnerable position and, the most important one of them all, to never give mercy to any beast because no matter what you think you may see they have no heart, no soul, no love – so kill them however you wish.





	1. Three lessons

**Author's Note:**

> hope ya enjoy  
> the first chapter is always the hardest for me so soz for any mistakes

 

Prompto Argentum was taught three things in his life: how to kill without making a sound, how to trap a beast in a vulnerable position and, the most important one of them all, to never give mercy to any beast because no matter what you think you may see they have no heart, no soul, no love – so kill them however you wish.

He had followed these lessons since he was taken in by the man who repeated them every day, and no matter how dark or morbid those words sounded it didn’t bother him in the slightest because by following those lessons he had saved his home village over and over again.

Every nightmare he had earned from it was worth it.

That small village considered him to be some kind of hero, the protector, the hunter and with no proper authority or city nearby to help he was their only hope, their only guardian. And he had earned all of their trust for the job through his whole life, his whole twenty years spent there - fighting for them.

Life wise; he was pretty content. It wasn’t perfect but no life where your home was plagued with beasts could be considered perfect yet, he had a family, a small one, friends and thanks of many. So, all in all, his life was fairly good, his day to day events could be considered normal as long as nothing disrupted it. Recently those disruptions had become more frequent but he thought nothing of it, instead he dealt each day as it came.

That day had been like any other. Prompto had been sent out to perform some simple chores: grocery shopping, helping the locals if they asked it of him, maybe drop by the bakers if he had the time. Above him the sun’s piecing sight tore through him; it was hot, almost unbearably so and it showed: every person who was willing to go out in this weather were soaked with sweat, only managing a polite “Hello” as they passed by him. To Prompto the weather was a nice change to the usual dark, grey skies that threaten to spill out with rain every second, the golden glow filling the streets made the world appear brighter and he made sure to soak it all in, plus he could handle the heat easily from all the days of exploring he was forced to do. This weather had nothing on the desert at midday.

Despite the weather Prompto opted on wearing his usual black, skinny trousers and trusty, old brown boots and a light blue tank top – he left his jacket at the house. He also wore a pair of black, fingerless gloves (the tips of the gloves chopped off by himself as he felt it was easier to handle a weapon without the extra material), the wristband he never took off, a simple satchel and, of course, his weapons - walking down the street to the shops armed to the teeth, as you do. His golden, slightly spikey hair swayed from the small breeze and his blue and purple eyes reflected the sun’s gaze with a sparkle. His freckled face was partly wet with sweat, definitely not as much as the people around him though.

His first stop was the market; filled with a range of fruits and veg that coloured the streets, the fresh scent of bread could be smelled from the nearby bakers but Prompto resisted the temptation for now and pulled out a small list of necessary items written:

  * Apples
  * Carrots
  * Cheese
  * Potatoes
  * An item of your choice



Looking over the list, he already knew where two of the items where located, a further two could easily be scoped out, the last one however gave him a pause. An item of his choice? Ardyn wasn’t usually so generous, _although,_ he supposed. _It is my birthday…or at least a guess date of it._

Within thirty minutes Prompto had acquired all four named items which were bagged together in a singular brown paper bag. His item of choice was still a mystery; it couldn’t be too big or expensive considering _he_ was the one paying for it and carrying it home. Although in all honesty, that fresh bread smell was weakening his resolve, and with no other idea of what he wanted Prompto decided that his item of choice would be from that source of comforting smells and headed to the bakers, owned by a close friend – so this ‘item of choice’ could also be used as an excuse to see them.

Entering the bakers Prompto knew straight away that this was a good choice. To Ardyn, bread and baked goods were a luxury so Prompto only got so many opportunities to visit – mainly as an award for a good, well delivered kill.

On the outside the bakery was a simple, small structure with a white door and large windows, on the inside it was much more with homely yellow walls, pristine counters and a warmth emitting from every item that made the room have an overall cosy feel to it – usually it would be comforting but on a day like this it must be irritating for the employees. He had many good memories of this place, sharing rare treats with Ardyn, talking to the other kids and meeting a good friend who had put up with him for a while now. A ding of the backroom bell – speak of the devil.

“Oh Prompto! Fancy seeing you here”.

In front of him stood said employee and one of his closest friends Cindy Aurum, she was a young woman around his age who was shorter than him (she had always been shorter) with short, curly blonde hair and a look that gave her a lot of admirers, and not just male ones.

He smiled to her, “hey Cindy, how have ya been doing?”.

“Oh, ya know this and that. Papa had been keepin me busy in this stinkin hot hell”, she complained, it was all in good fun though both of them knew she loved her work (without it she probably go insane), no matter the weather. “Sorry I haven’t visited recently Prompto, it’s been busy”.

“It’s no problem, we’ve both been busy and it hasn't been that long”. He laughed her concern away, it had only been a week since they last met up, which was nothing really.

“Aw, ya could at least pretend to miss me hun, a week without me how did you survive?”, she chuckled, pulling her uniform straight, “anyway back to business, what ya’ll want?”.

He let out a small chuckle, “hmm, actually I don’t really know. Ardyn let me have whatever I wanted and, well, I could never resist this place”.

At the mention of his name, Cindy’s smile turned to a sharp frown, “him being nice huh? That’s new, I know ya close to him Prom but I honestly don’t have a clue how ya stand him – he’s a pig”.

“He- he ain’t that bad, really”, he tried to argue, the worst part being that he didn’t even believe himself but he did his best to convince Cindy with a bright smile and jokey tone. Ardyn wasn’t that bad of a guy, he really wasn’t, yet Prompto could see Cindy’s opinion - Ardyn was complicated with a type of personality that was hard to like. Many respected the man but none cared for him the way Prompto did.

“Lies, but I’ll drop it”. The smile returned. “Anyway, enough about him what can I get ya? Want some suggestions?”.

“Please”.

A few minutes later Cindy convinced him to buy a glazed bun with a cream filling. Usually Prompto tried his best to stay away from unhealthy treats like this but it was his birthday. Kinda.

Before he could leave and wish her goodbye, Cindy shouted at him from across the counter.

“OI! Wait there Prompto Argentum!”.

He watched her rush from the counter towards him, a small wrapped box in her hand. She held it out for him.

“Ya didn’t think I’d forget your birthday, did ya?”.

Prompto froze. He never expected people to remember, never mind give him gifts. Although he should’ve seen it coming really, Cindy had always remembered and had always brought something, even when he had insisted it wasn’t necessary countless times. Still, it was touching.

Realising he had been staring for far too long, he graciously accepted the gift. “I- “, he took in a breath and smiled, “thanks Cindy”.

“No problem hun, open it whenever ya want. Now shoo, I’ve got work to do”.

Prompto placed the gift in his satchel and with a final goodbye and a short hug, he left missing the place as soon as his first step touch the outdoors.

By the time he was out of the bakery and heading home, the streets were a little quieter – many had given up their shopping run in favour of finding the nearest lake. Still, the walk home was quite far, and he greeted many locals along the way; the same kind of needed politeness riddled with tiredness voice sounded over and over, repeating the same “Hello”, “Good morning”, “Good seeing you”, “HELP!”. He stopped as did many others beside him, that wasn’t just a voice that echoed through the others, no that was a cry, a scream in pain or terror? Prompto didn’t know nor care, all that mattered was locating where the voice was from and running to that location, leaving his grocery filled paper bag where he once stood.

He darted through the streets, not bothering to apologise to any people he bumped into, they didn’t seem to care though because as soon as that scream was heard people ran in the opposite direction, to safety.

The scream sounded from the outskirts of the village where the fields resided, that much Prompto knew before he had even arrived and he could easily guess why the scream happened, the same reason anyone ever showed real fear in this village: beasts.

Dark, empty creatures that only lived to do one thing: destroy. They never had showed any sign of intelligence, they simply destroyed the first thing they saw, whether that be buildings, crops or people. No one knew where they came from, the villagers didn’t even know where to begin when it came to finding their origins, their homes, one day one just appeared – it was as easy as that. The day the first one came, Prompto had only been four years old and had only been trained in the knowledge aspect of the beasts and simple killing techniques by Ardyn, he had been too young to hold a weapon at the time therefore he was useless. Ardyn was the one who had stopped it after it had already taken three lives but he was seriously wounded in the process. After seeing him like that, after witnessing the mournful cries of his neighbours Prompto swore to never be as helpless as he was that day. He wasn’t going to let another die.

 

All through his life he was taught three things: how to kill without making a sound, how to trap a beast in a vulnerable position and to never give mercy to any beast.

His name was Prompto Argentum, adopted son of Ardyn Izunia, he was a powerful hunter who was loved by all, who had always lived by what he was taught.

Until the day he came.

 


	2. The beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The scream was getting louder, he was getting closer.  
> Time to see what was waiting for him around the corner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya enjoy :)  
> soz for any mistakes or if its just shit

 

The scream got louder and louder the closer he got, he already had his sword drawn and ready to not waste time when he got there. His plan was simple: get there, quickly analyse the situation and the beasts – mainly conclude whether or not people will get hurt if he strikes right away? And see where the beast’s weak points were, deal with the creatures and see to anyone harmed, finally he’d get rid of the body, far away from innocent eyes. He just hoped it was only one this time.

Finally, he had arrived, his eyes scanned the whole scene, making sure to mentally note down everything of value so he’d be prepared and not just rushing in blindly – he had learned the hard way to never do that, he had the scars to prove it. Before him he saw the villager that had let out the scream and hadn’t stopped, the villager was a middle-aged woman with dark hair and no visible wounds _(thank gods)_ she was currently pointing at the creature in front of her, thankfully she wasn’t close enough to be attacked by it.

Speaking of the beast, it was…different to any Prompto had seen before. It was cowering on the ground, hiding its face from view but from what he could see the beast could almost be passed off as a human in bad light. That didn’t sit right with Prompto, every single beast he had took down were ugly, vile, old looking creatures – most of them looking like disfigured wolves or ravenous foxes with wrongly sized paws and heads but this one…

There was no doubt it wasn’t human with its large paws with sharp, pointed claws where hands and feet should be and visible, curled brown horns on the top of its head and pure black fur covering every part of it, yet it clearly had two legs, two arms (which meant it must also walk on two legs) and the body and limbs were proportioned just like the human form. Not only that but it also wore human clothes; silk, black trousers, a plain white shirt with a black waistcoat that had silver floral patterns, to finish the outfit off it wore a long, black overcoat. These clothes, every piece was of high quality and seemed to be perfectly tailored to its size… _where did it get these from?_

He forced himself to snap out of his thoughts. _right, focus._ On the floor like this the beast didn’t appear to pose much of a threat or a fight, in fact, looking closely Prompto could see red blood dripping from its side which was being covered by one of its arms – one of the villagers (most likely the woman) must’ve had a chance to strike it. But _red_ blood?... that isn’t right.

Sharp intakes of breath could be heard beside him as the woman finally ran out of breath for her screams, she looked at him part hopeful, part fearful.

“Oh, thank gods, quick! Go kill it!”. Those were her final words before she darted out of there quicker than a lady her age should be able to. With her out of harm’s way and no unsuspecting surprises nearby that could jump him when he was distracted, he could finish this.

As he saw it, the creature was in no condition to make a sudden attack so there was no need to rush over to it and finish the job quickly, so he casually walked towards it, his sword still gripped tightly and swinging at his side – never hurts to be safe. It either didn’t hear him or didn’t care as there was no movement from the ground where it sat when Prompto stepped closer and closer until he stopped within arm’s reach of it. He could end this right now, one clean swipe and it’d be dead, the body could be dealt with and he could go home. However, something made him pause, he had _never_ paused before not when he was dealing with these things, he wanted to see its face – the fact that the beast was hiding it made him more curious.

Therefore, he crouched down in front of it and, with his free hand, he steadily reached towards its arm that was covering its face. Upon contact, the creature jolted – it wasn’t a move of attack so Prompto didn’t even flinch and kept his hand in place, he gripped its arm firmer and carefully pulled it away. It tried to resist at first before it yelled out a cry of pain and realised struggling would only hurt itself further. With its arm out of the way, Prompto let go and the beast turned to face him.

_No, no, no, not possible_

If it appeared human before, it was even more so now.

The expected animal like head, snout and features weren’t presented to him, what was made him froze, his eyes widening and his mind in a battle with itself, trying to grasp a logical explanation of what he was seeing. A human nose, human lips that had little fangs hanging out, human skin with only a little fur at the side of its face, spiky, black human hair – definitely not fur, a little bit of fur on top of two human ears and… those eyes.

The eyes that were supposed to be empty, supposed to show no emotion only hunger for bloodshed and destruction were not that. They were bright blue human eyes with long, black eyelashes and a clear sparkle; they showed so much, so much fear, maybe even a bit of anger and confusion.

Prompto didn’t know what to do, those eyes held him in place, he watched silently as it raised an eyebrow at him in question: _why haven’t you killed me yet? What are you waiting for?_ Just kill it! It was just unique looking to the others that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t harm everyone if it was given the chance. But… it hadn’t, Prompto had looked over everything there was no destruction, the screaming villager hadn’t gotten a scratch on her even though, much as he hated to admit it, it had plenty of opportunity to attack, yet the only one hurt was itself.

Now with a shaking hand, he raised his sword, watched as the beast flinched in front of him its eyes squeezed shut, he closed his own eyes and swung down – missing the creature as it struck the ground away from it. He couldn’t do it.

This was ridiculously insane, he had one job, one _damn_ job and he couldn’t kill this one damn, stupid-

He heaved a heavy sigh of irritation, mainly at himself, and looked to the beast which looked right back with its eyes now reopened, wide and now filled with definite, clear confusion.

“I- I can’t kill you”, he whispered. At the same time however, he couldn’t just leave it here either.

Since they were on the outskirts of the village the woods were close by, he could just drag it through there, leave it and forget any of this ever happened. But first…

“Let me see your wound”, he demanded firmly, moving to gently pry the arm off the injury. The beast’s hold seemed to tighten around its wound in defiance.

“Come on, I can’t get you out of here if I don’t have a look at that first”, he explained. What was he doing? Talking to something that was known not to be able to think never mind understand words, maybe he’d gone mad? That would explain a lot at this point.

It blinked at him then gradually moved its arm out of the way, letting Prompto see the cut. Despite the amount of blood, it wasn’t that deep, the villager had probably only just hit it, only tearing the skin lightly. Luckily for it, it wasn’t fatal, it would survive.

“Can you move?”.

It nodded. _Huh, so it does understand._ Then it braced its paws against the ground and used them to try to push itself to its feet only to stumble back to the ground.

“Hey, hey, steady. Here I’ll help”, he said, he moved its arm around his shoulders while he wrapped his hand around its waist. “Ready? On three: one, two… three!”

With the extra support from Prompto they got the beast to its feet, but it needed to lean on him to stay up.

“Alright, let’s get you out of here”.

They set off away from the village to the safety of the woods and amidst it all one thing was left behind, completely forgotten and tossed aside by Prompto:

His sword.

 

A few minutes later, Prompto found himself and the beast within the thicker parts of the woods where the trees were taller and growing to bulkier sizes, there was more wildlife, it was darker making navigating around difficult and the village had vanished from view.

The beast required help with each step, leaning most of its weight on Prompto as it staggered alongside him, its laboured breath could be easily heard as they kept moving. Now where was he gonna-

“Why -why are you helping me?”.

Prompto stumbled slightly in surprise, the question almost made him lose his grip on the beast, he kept himself and it upright and found his footing once more. That voice, it was scratchy, pained and sounded similar to an animal’s whimper and It _definitely_ came from the thing beside him. _OK, ok, you’ve got a beast that you didn’t kill, that not only looks human and understands words but also talks… ok, that’s fine, everything’s fine, this is fine._

“Did you hear me?”. The voice was stronger now and his lack of a response must’ve irritated it as it sounded more impatient.

He should probably reply. “You – you *sigh*, I don’t know, because you need it? You didn’t harm anyone or anything and I … I couldn’t just leave you there, ok?”. He huffed, keeping his eyes off the thing beside him and focusing on not tripping on any hidden roots or rocks.

It gazed at him puzzlingly, “but I’m – I’m a – “

“I know”.

It seemed to know not to continue and push it as it didn’t say anything else; no more questions, no more words, only silence that wasn’t completely awkward just calm. By now, Prompto was less freaked out by what was happening and what he was doing and was more concerned with getting this all over with. The woods were almost silent with only chirping birds and the patter of wildlife to be heard, each step felt longer than the last as the beast was clearly getting more tired and clumsy the further they went. A little while later, Prompto halted his footsteps which forced the beast to stop as well, he took its arm off his shoulder and placed the beast on the ground with a firm push and a helping hand. He stepped from it and stood before it.

“There. This is where we stop, the rest of the journey to wherever the hell you came from is up to you… just be careful”.

Why he said those words right at the end he didn’t know and now he didn’t have to care as this is the last time he would ever see it again. He turned on his heel and step back in the direction where they came from-

“Wait”.

It called out to him and, against his better judgement, he stopped and turned back round letting it say whatever it needed to.

“I – please, just a little further”.

“Huh?”. Why further? This place was perfect; secluded, dark, far away from the village, no one would find it here.

It wasn’t looking at him, it hadn’t responded, yet he waited, patiently for it to speak up. Eventually, it gazed up at him with those eyes which now appeared brighter even with them surrounded in darkness, they were… sad, in distress, helpless. Prompto felt his heart tug at the sight.

“I live not too far away from here I – I won’t be able to get there on my own”. Its arm had returned to clutching at its injured side. It looked and sounded pained, maybe it had lost more blood than Prompto originally thought.

Seconds past and without a reply to its words, the beast’s eyes narrowed, its teeth slightly bared and clenched. Basically, it looked pissed. “Fine! Leave me! Maybe you didn’t kill me in that village for a reason, did you just want to see me slowly bleed to death?! Does the pain of a _beast_ really satisfy you that much?!”, it growled, the previous downhearted, hurt look completely replaced by defensive rage.

Prompto took one look at it, blankly then he looked out into the woods, thinking quietly to himself while the beast seethed next to him. Decided, he took steps away from the beast and step into the deeper woods in the direction of a large rock that he currently could see and remembered passing by earlier.

Desperate, it called out, “Wait! They’ll die without me!”.

Reaching the rock, Prompto stopped and placed his foot on it, leaned forward and tied up his shoelace that had come undone while he was helping the beast walk. After he had tied it, he stepped away from the rock and walked back to the beast which was staring at him, eyes wide.

He chuckled, “No need for the dramatics dude, I just needed to tie my shoelaces sheesh. Now let’s get you home”.

It continued to stare at him dumbly and didn’t snap out of it until Prompto was putting his hands back to where they were before and helping it stand. Once stood up and walking, or at least trying to, it turned to him.

“You’re an asshole”.

Prompto chuckled again.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELP ANOTHER CHAPTER IS UP, IM JUST SHOOTING THESE OUT ARENT I?  
> ILL GIVE ONE POINT TO WHOEVER CAN TELL ME WHO THAT BEAST IS SUPPOSE TO BE???? THE TAGS KINDA GIVE IT AWAY THO
> 
> THANKS FOR ALL COMMENT AND KUDOS YA GAVE OUT I WAS SURPRISED HOW MANY KUDOS I GOT IN LIKE ONE DAY :0
> 
> ALSO FORGOT TO MENTION IF YA HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FIC PLZ DO COMMENT THEM OR ASK ME ON TUMBLR, YA DONT HAVE TO HAVE A QUESTION TO TALK TO ME THO ;)
> 
> ANYWAY TIME FOR THE GOOD OL GOODBYES:  
> YALL COMMENT IF YA WISH, PLEASE VISIT MA TUMBLR TO HAVE A CHAT OR TO BE NOSEY AT MA ACCOUNDT THERE A LINK BELOW
> 
> HOPE YA HAVE A GOOD DAY/NIGHT LEXAX OUT
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)   
> 


	3. The castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally they arrive at the beast's 'home'.  
> Someone or someones are watching from the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya enjoy  
> soz for any mistakes

From that point on the already unsteady path became much more difficult; mud filled pits and large jagged stones covering their way, making it unbelievably hard to find sturdy footing. The heavy beast on his shoulder didn’t help.

In the back of his mind thoughts squeezed together of all the reasons why this was a bad idea and that every decision he had made since meeting this confusing thing had been completely stupid. Ardyn will be pissed if he finds out. Too late to think about that now, letting these thoughts get to him would only waste time. Just get on with this and he never has to know, no one does.

He grunted, tiredness and weighing aches paining him, “thought you said it was nearby”.

It didn’t respond, not even a nod or a grunt. Nothing.

_Wow, rude._

Eventually they had reached what Prompto assumed the beast meant when it said about living close by. It was not what he had been expecting, this beast was full of surprises. In the distance stood a castle of gigantic proportion; once upon a time, perhaps, it was a stunning structure to behold, now, however, it lays miserable, broken, falling apart surrounded by gardens filled with dead flowers and trampled bushes, if only they were cared for they could’ve been so colourful. With everything dead and abandoned the whole scene screamed ‘stay away’, it was kind of creepy. Perfect place for hiding.

The beast’s steps didn’t falter as it passed through the gardens, keeping its paws on the pebbled pathway, at this point Prompto was only there for support rather than direction.

At the end of the pathway was an old, wooden door that led to the inside of the castle. Its locks seemed to work since the beast required a key from its pocket before it pushed the door open and they walked inside.

It was dead inside as well.

They stepped into a large room; a tall, magnificent stairway was in front of them, a grand fireplace (which was lit: odd) and some comfy looking red sofas to the left and a set of drawers, a small coffee table and chair to the right where a singular book sat on the table. Despite how expensive everything looked it was kept in terribly poor condition; the walls were decorated with a mixture of reds, creams and browns and layered with dust, most of the furniture was as well – that was clear even with the only light source being the fireplace.

A lit fireplace… “Is someone home?”

It turned to him, its gaze suspicious, “why do you ask?”.

“Just wondering. With the lit fireplace and all, could mean someone’s here”.

It frowned and turned its eyes away from him, “No one’s here”.

 _Lies,_ “Huh, ok then, let’s get you settled down somewhere”.

“Don’t bother, I don’t need your help. Just let go of me and leave”.

Before he could respond, the beast pulled itself away from him, staggering a bit before regaining its balance and clutching its side. Then it stumbled to the drawer on the right side of the room, opening the top one and pulling out what appeared to be some old bandages. Its hand shook causing it to drop the bandages, it growled a small “shit” and tried to lean down to pick them up until it cried in pain and stood itself back up, leaning against the drawers, panting.

Prompto sighed and walked to the struggling beast. “Here, let me help”.

Still panting it didn’t have the energy to argue and Prompto picked up the fallen bandages; they were clearly dusty like everything else in this place and weren’t in the best condition. “This all ya got?”

It nodded.

This crappy cotton wasn’t going to help anyone and looking at the beast, he knew he couldn’t just leave it like this, he felt… kinda bad for it. He placed the bandages on top of the drawer and took hold of the beast’s arm, “Come on dude”, he pulled its arm back on his shoulders and led ( _dragged_ ) it to the other side of the room.

The least dusty piece of furniture in the room was one of the red sofas, the one closest to the fire, Prompto placed the beast upon it as carefully as he could. It whined slightly but said nothing else. With it settled down, Prompto placed his satchel on the sofa beside it and explored his bag. He took out the green first aid box that he always carried around with him to help civilians that had been injured by beasts, and now he was using it to treat a beast… hurt by a civilian. There’s gotta be some irony in that. He took out a bottle of water, a clean cloth and some non-shitty bandages. Then he placed them on the sofa and knelt down in front of the beast.

Wordlessly he pried its arm from the wound, this time it didn’t resist and let him. Dried blood now stained its white shirt and waistcoat and around the edges of the cut, luckily most of the bleeding had stopped by now. His hands were steady as he reached up and unbuttoned its waistcoat then he proceeded to unbutton its shirt, he needed the area to be completely visible with no obstacles in the way to clean the wound, although the fur wasn’t going to help. No struggling from the beast as each button became undone, Prompto didn’t bother to look up at it, concluding that the beast wasn’t going to be pleased with this situation.

Afterwards, once a clear view of a long but shallow cut was revealed to him, he set about dampening the cloth with the water from his bottle. Using it to clean the wound, he felt a slight tinge of movement against his palm holding the cloth.

“You sure you know what you’re doing”. It wasn’t a question; its voice was filled with mockery and a tinge of grumpiness.

Prompto raised an eyebrow at it, his face showing he definitely wasn’t amused by the beast’s attitude. He decided to ignore the tone, “Yes, I’ve done this plenty of times”. It huffed and let him continue in silence, its face sour.

Once cleaned, Prompto packed the water bottle and now dirty cloth away and unwrapped some of the bandages.

“I can do this myself, you know”, it grumbled. _It really was a moody beast._

“Sure dude, sure you can”, Prompto teased, he instructed the beast to lean forwards and began to wrap the bandage around its waist.

 

From the shadows, away from Prompto’s concentrated gaze, hid two quiet creatures.

“You sure he’s safe?”.

“Yes Gladio, if you look closely you can see the boy is helping Noct not hurting him”.

“Doesn’t mean he won’t”.

“And if he does we’ll step in. Although why you would treat someone only to hurt them seems completely illogical to me”.

“Guess you’re right there Iggy”.

 

After a few tight layers wrapped around its waist, Prompto tied the bandage firmly and packed the remaining equipment into his satchel. He stood from the floor and faced the beast, not sure whether he should bid it goodbye or not. “I- “

A crash sounded from the right at the darker part of the room. Prompto whipped his head toward it.

“Dammit Gladio”, he heard a hushed angry voice say.

He looked at the beast, “No one here huh?”.

It said nothing and held his gaze when another crash sounded. Defensive, Prompto reached for his sword before discovering it wasn’t there, he swore and instead grabbed his smaller knife. Seeing the glint of the blade the beast stood from the sofa, Prompto leapt back from it and poised his knife threateningly. He let his head turn to where the sound came from, making sure the beast was still in his sights.

“Show yourself”.

A small shuffle could be seen through the darkness, followed by whispers, then two figures slowly made their way from the shadows. Prompto squinted his eyes, trying to make out the figures until they came into the light and he lost all breath.

In the light from the fireplace the shadowed figures became whole and every detail Prompto could see he wished he didn’t. They, they were beasts except, like the other one, they were different. Two males stood there that were almost completely human looking except the one with glasses had paws where hands should be and a small amount of fur covering its neck and jaw, the larger one had chipped horns on top of its head, visible, large fangs, yellow eyes and its feet were two giant paws.

_There’s, there’s more of them._

One he could consider an anomaly, never to be seen again, but three? This is insane.

“Please put the knife down, we mean no harm”, the bespectacled one said, its voice calm and collected – nothing like a beast’s usual behaviour and attitude.

“Yeah kid, put it down before we _do_ mean harm”, the larger one threatened, that sounded a bit more beast like: violent.

The injured one beside him spoke up, “I told you guys to stay in your rooms”.

Somehow, with its paws, the bespectacled one fluently pushed its glasses up its nose, “Sorry Noctis, we had to make sure you were safe”.

“Which you’re clearly not”, the other one added.

“I’m fine”, Noctis? Grumbled back.

“Now”, the bigger one said “is blondie gonna drop the knife or not?”.

Prompto was battling one side of his mind with the other, barely listening to the three beasts. Leaving one to live: fine as long as it didn’t come back but three was pushing it, could he really leave them here alive? Would they all stay away from the village if he did? He stood straight, switching his gaze from beast to beast, _never let them see your weaknesses._

“How many of you are there?”, he demanded, he _needed_ to know.

Noctis? Tried to answer, “Um, well…”-

A squeak of a door opening echoed through the room.

“Gladio? What’s taking so long? Everyone is- “

“Iris go back inside”.

“Huh? Why? Is Noctis back yet? What’s going…on?”.

A shorter figure appeared from the door upstairs; a girl with sharp fangs and a pair of yellow eyes similar to the large beast. _Another one._

It took one look at him and yelled, “Everyone come out! We have a problem!”.

The big one, Gladio? Tried to interrupt, “Iris! No!”.

But it must’ve been too late as one by one doors opened from all directions and numerous figures stepped out.

Beasts, all of them. Not complete ones, no, they were all… half beasts? Every single one was mainly human with different beast like features: claws, fangs, paws, horns, fur, tails, they were all different yet, they were also all the same thing. There had to be at least thirty of them, all different shapes, sizes, ages and all of them a threat to _his_ village, _his_ home. How much blood would be on his hands if he left them alive?... how much blood would be on his hands if he took them all down? And, more importantly, would it be worth it?

He stared at them all, none moved to attack they didn’t take a step, in fact, some appeared scared? Some were children, they were only small and looked so very fragile and afraid. That made his trail of thought falter, children – young, innocent children only just starting life like the ones he protected in his village, there was no way they could cause harm. Above him, one started to cry, wailing its words.

“Mommy! Mommy! I don’t wanna die! Don’t let him kill us!”. The mother hushed the child kindly and cradled it in its arms. It broke any little resolve Prompto had left, if he harmed even just one of these… people? _He_ would be the monster, not them. He placed his knife back in his holster and hung his head down, eyes closed, he let out a defeated sigh, then he looked back up seeing a mixture of shocked and relieved faces. Weirdly he felt a small smile tug at his lips, this situation was getting too crazy for him, his head was a mixture of questions, confusion and dread. He didn’t shout or yell or demand for an explanation, instead he let out a small chuckle and with a level voice asked:

“Is anyone gonna tell me what’s going on?”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOAH IT GOT REAL INTENSE FOR A SECOND THERE
> 
> MORE CHARACTER BOIIIII, OUR IGGY AND GLADIO AND IRIS HAVE JOINED THE PARTY  
> real talk tho, really sorryyyy about the late update me head aint beeennnn in da gameeeee
> 
> DO PEEPS ACTUALLY READ DA NOTES?... CURIOUS. BUT ANYWAY LETS GET THIS OUTRO DONE:  
> YALL COMMENT IF YA WISH ABOUT WHATEVER YA WISH - WE'RE ALL HERE TO HAVE A GOOD TIME, PLEASE VISIT MA TUMBLR TO HAVE A CHAT OR TO BE NOSEY AT MA ACCOUNT THERE A LINK BELOW
> 
> HOPE YA HAVE A GOOD DAY/NIGHT LEXAX OUT
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> 


	4. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to get some answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya enjoy ;)  
> soz for any mistakes

For a while no one spoke; Prompto supposed it was a vague question but, what else was he suppose to say? This whole day had been one strange thing after the next with no reason or explanation and now… he was just tired of it. Still, if no one or nothing was going to answer him perhaps he should just leave, after all that was the original plan, he wasn’t part of any of this so technically he didn’t have to know, they had no reason to tell him anything, hell most of them think he’s a threat – maybe they’re right, probably not though, not now.

Maybe the less he knew the easier it would be to sleep tonight.

He knew what he was suppose to do, what he was taught to do, he knew whose little voice was screaming at him in his head and he knew the words all too well: _what the hell do you think you’re doing boy?! Do you remember what happened last time you did nothing?! What happened to me?! I could’ve died! Don’t disappoint me, not after all I have taught you! Now do your job and kill them all!_

_…sorry Ardyn, I can’t do that._

This was taking too long, if he didn’t want to be questioned by Ardyn, he would have to get back soon, it was becoming more and more obvious that no one is going to say anything to him. Everyone’s lips were sealed, some couldn’t even look at him nevermind talk to him. Except, above he saw some movement as the crowd parted to let one of them step forward; a blonde lady in a pure white dress, it could’ve been considered a completely normal, natural beauty if not for the horns and oddly shaped dark patch on the right side of its face. It cleared its throat.

“Well”, its voice was kind and smooth like silk, “that’s a long story- “

“- and _none_ of your business”, the larger one who Prompto was pretty certain was called Gladio interrupted, its voice was a low growl similar to a warning.

The bespectacled one stepped closer to Gladio, “that’s enough Gladio”. It growled in irritation but obeyed the other’s logical words.

Ignoring Gladio, the blonde lady walked further through the crowd until it was descending down the long stairway with a grace and elegance no mere ferocious animal could possess. “He saved Noct, I think we owe him an explanation for why we disturbed his village”.

The dark-haired beast tried to interrupt, defensive, “What? I didn’t – I didn’t hurt anyone!”.

Now on the same level as them, it turned to them and smiled sweetly, “I know that Noctis but I think our appearances are enough to cause a freak out, yes?”.

“I- “, it started before it halted its words and looked down at its fur covered paws then it scoffed and avoided every gaze, “It was for a good reason”.

 _A good reason huh?_ Its face was currently the definition of crestfallen no matter how much it tried to hide it, whatever this reason was it hadn’t worked out for it.

Another shuffle above, a young one of no more than seven years old pushed its way through until it was at the very front, its tiny voice carried throughout the room, “Did you get us the food prince Noctis?”

A small flicker of shame flickered in Noctis’ eyes then it bowed its head so that its bangs were covering any expression that crossed its face afterwards. _Wait… food? Prince?!_

Prompto blinked, his face showing a quizzical look with his eyes narrowing partly in concentration, “so… you were there to steal?”, he didn’t expect Noctis to answer so it came to no surprise when Gladio growled out instead.

“What choice do we have?!”

“Gladio! Enough!”, the same voice told it.

The blonde beast seemed to inspect the others, Prompto saw its thoughtful expression turn to one of a set conclusion, then it turned and faced the crowd. “Everyone would you please retire to your rooms, we’ll discuss this all together later”. The words held some power, as soon as they had left its lips the range of disfigured figures headed in different directions, including the questioning young one whose father? Lead away from the bannister.

Once a major part of the room’s occupancy left, Prompto surveyed the company he was left with: the blonde lady was still present, as was the bespectacled one, Gladio and Noctis hadn’t moved either. These select few must have some kind of importance in this household in order for them, and them alone, to know to stay and discuss this… interesting situation. _Prince Noctis, was the kid messing around?_ Prompto looked over to the said beast, it still was looking towards the floor, clenching its fists that were only visibly trembling if you were practically looking for them.

“Now gentleman”, the female one spoke up, “Shall we all discuss this civilly?”

Gladio scoffed, “we could if princess would stop sulking”.

Noctis tensed, “Shut up Gladio”.

It didn’t seem to take the hint to drop it, “You failed? So, what? We all knew it wasn’t going to fucking work, now stop being such a little cry- “.

“Gladio”, another warning tone, this time from the bespectacled beast, Gladio didn’t seem to pick up on it or it ignored it.

“You’re not the only one suffering here you little brat, all of this was your fault in the beginning and- “.

“GLADIO! SHUT THE HELL UP!”, Noctis yelled, its demeaner changing quickly to one of fury its head now looking up straight at Gladio, its eyes blazed with fire.

This was getting out of hand very quickly, instead of backing down Gladio raised up to Noctis’ level of anger and was walking closer to the very unstable dark-haired beast. “NO! YOU SHUT UP, EVERYONE IS TIRED OF YOUR BULLSHIT NOCTIS”.

A growl raised from Noctis throat and it increased in sound as Gladio made its way closer.

“Noctis! Gladio! Please!”, the female voice called out.

“Both of you stop this now!”, the bespectacled one added. Both were ignored, the two beasts too blinded by their own heated argument to pay them any mind.

Gladio was getting really close now, almost reaching Prompto then after him he would reach Noctis and a fight was guaranteed to break out, blood would definitely be shed and injuries would ensure and in its current condition Noctis was going to get the worst of it.

_This is going to end badly._

Tired of waiting, Noctis took a step towards the approaching Gladio, its stance offensive and its claws at the ready, another step-

A hard, sharp edge stopped Noctis in its tracks as a blade hovered on its neck, on the other side of Prompto, Gladio had also been stopped by a similar blade against its throat. Prompto’s eyes were on Noctis, his face calm, “Come on now guys, there’s no need for this”, his tone was level with a hidden hint of a plea to not make this go any further, to not start a fight.

Under the blade Gladio scowled, seething with anger, yet was careful to make little movement, “Stay out of this pipsqueak”.

“Everyone please”, the calm female spoke, its timing perfect, “fighting is not going to help anyone”.

A small pause in the room and just when Prompto thought the first move would be made, a breath of defeat sounded from Gladio, it closed its eyes and nodded, “alright, alright, you’re right Luna”.

One final nod and Prompto lowered his knife from its neck, he turned to the other expectantly. It looked back at him expressionless and stone faced, showing no signs of listening to Luna’s words. Noctis’ was stubborn in its temper and it didn’t look like it wasn’t going to back down.

“Come on dude, please”, Prompto pleaded.

Noctis’ eyes widened at him before settling into an irritated but more agreeable expression, it finally nodded cautiously as not cause slice its neck and turned from him. Prompto removed the knife.

Everyone focused their attention on Luna, though some did it begrudgingly, the blonde beast sat on the one chair next to the wooden table and clasped its hands together slowly. “Firstly introductions, I’m sorry we haven’t done this sooner, how rude of us; my name is Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, you can just call me Luna, this”, it gestured to the bespectacled beast beside it, “is Ignis Scientia, our advisor”.

Ignis bowed its head respectably.

“Then we have Gladiolus Amicitia, our shield and finally this is Noctis Lucis Caelum”. No response from the beast itself. “So, can we know your name?”.

“Uh sure, I’m Prompto, Prompto Argentum”. No point in lying about his name, everyone in the village knew his face so he was never hard to find _._

“It’s very nice to meet you Prompto, even under these… odd circumstances”, it cleared its throat a little awkwardly but it kept its composure. “Now where to begin?”.

_“A long time ago, there lived a magnificent kingdom ruled by an ageing king with his son at his side, he was a nice king who ruled fairly, he was loved by all Unfortunly, one day, the king left this world and the responsibility of the throne fell on his only son. But the son didn’t want that responsibility, he was very, very young you see, only a boy of four and although he would’ve received guidance before taking the crown completely, he wanted none of it. And so, he ran away, leaving the kingdom defenceless and without a ruler. During that time an old force returned to this world and the beasts that came from it overtook our kingdom, those that weren’t killed were enslaved._

_Eventually the prince did return, the guilt of leaving too heavy on his heart to bear, however by then it was already too late. His return of light caused the darkness back into the pits from whence it came, but before all of it left us the monster in charge of it all, who commanded the destruction and the beasts that took so many lives, left a curse on us all. To become what had almost destroyed us all; beasts, the prince got the worse of the curse since he was the one the monster despised the most after he had ruin his plans, the rest of the kingdom only partially took on a form of the darkness._

_Feared and hunted, the kingdom secluded itself from the world and stayed in hiding till this day. We lived comfortably with our resources, we were alone but alive, after a while though our supplies ran short and we tried to replenish them but the soil was long dead. We tried to explore the woods for food only to find the original beasts roaming them. Therefore, we have resorted to stealing, this was our first attempt… it didn’t work.”_

“With the little we have left, we won’t last much longer I’m afraid. A month, I believe? Is that correct Ignis?”

“I’m sorry to say so, my lady”

“We’re dead basically”, Gladio helpfully summarised.

This was a _lot_ to take in; a prosperous kingdom, a king and prince, a darkness, the origins of the beasts that terrorised his village maybe? And a curse and now a dying kingdom. How come he never heard of any of this before? Surely someone would know if a kingdom just disappeared? He needed some time to process all of this, he thought answers would help his confusion but this…

This was just worse.

“So, you were all human?”

“Were you not listening?”, Gladio sneered.

Luna smiled, “yes we were, I think that was around…three years ago?”

“Huh…”

_They… they didn’t ask for any of this, they didn’t deserve it either… they weren’t the same as those-_

“I… you…”, it was Prompto’s turn to lower his head as he holstered his knives, “sorry”.

“You have no reason to apologise”, Luna comforted.

“Yeah, we don’t need ya sympathy”, Gladio added.

“Is, is there no way to, you know, change you all back?”, he asked.

Lifting its paw, Ignis pushed its glasses back comfortably onto its nose, “As far as we know; no and we’ve been searching for a long time”, it answered, its face neutral although there was some sadness to its words.

_All those…people, all of those kids, those families, just- just left here for dead?_

_Maybe, maybe he could-_

A large clap stopped his thoughts. “Right, now you know the story, you can leave”, Gladio snarled, it, no, _he_ then ascended up the stairway leaving the others to watch after him.

Luna out a small sigh, “sorry about that, you’re welcome to stay, though I have a feeling you’ll want to leave us now?”. She stood from her chair. “You’ll have to excuse me, I have to talk with our people, Noctis? Ignis? Are you joining me?”

“Coming, miss Lunafreya”, Ignis replied, joining her on the climb up to the second floor.

Noctis silently followed after them, his head still hung low.

Seeing them all like this, their steps hesitant, their backs slightly arched in exhaustion and defeat and none of them able to keep a straight head looking forwards, no matter how much they tried to fake it. He could help, he knew he could but he didn’t know these…people, they could be lying right at his face, it could all be an act, but,

Could he risk the chance it wasn’t and leave them to die?

“Wait…”, his voice held less conviction than he would’ve liked but it seemed to catch their attention as they all stopped their ascent to look at him, even Noctis was now facing him head on.

“Is something the matter?”, Luna asked.

“Is- is food all you need?”.

“Well, yes, our water supply is fine and nothing else is a necessity. Why?”.

“I”, he made himself stand tall and tried to sound as confident as he could, “I can, that is, I want to help”.

All three froze struggling to register his words. Noctis’ eyes were large like the rest yet Prompto saw a little hope in them too. “Huh?”.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOZ FOR DA WAIT THIS TOOK LONGER THAN I EXPECTED MAINLY BECAUSE I DIDNT KNO WAT TO WRITE FOR THIS CHAPTER, I JUST WRITE THINGS WHERE IM LIKE: I HAVE A BEGINNING AND AN END NOW.... HOW DOD I FILL THE REST?
> 
> ANYWAY THANKS FOR READING HOPE YA ENJOY  
> GLADIO'S A BIT OF AN ASS BUT HE DOES HAVE A GOOD REASON  
> I KNOW NOCT DOSENT SAY MUCH BUT THATS MAINLY BECAUSE OF HIS SHAME, THAT AND THE INTERRUPTIONS
> 
> ANYWAY TIME FOR THE END OF MA NOTES:  
> YALL COMMENT IF YA WISH ABOUT WHATEVER YA WISH - WE'RE ALL HERE TO HAVE A GOOD TIME, PLEASE VISIT MA TUMBLR TO HAVE A CHAT OR TO BE NOSEY AT MA ACCOUNT THERE A LINK BELOW
> 
> HOPE YA HAVE A GOOD DAY/NIGHT LEXAX OUT
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> 


	5. Plan b

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto can help, he knows he can.  
> Now time to put this idea into a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading ;)  
> soz for any mistakes

 

If food was all they need, food is what they would get, what _he_ would get for them. These people deserved a life, deserved to live no matter how they looked or how they resembled the terror of his village, they never harmed him or anyone, if their story was true then they had been regular, honest people like the ones he protected in his village who had only ever tried to live their life with whatever they had with the ones they loved. That was what he protected, that is what he would give to these people; a chance to continue life all together. No one should have to suffer like this, and if he had any idea of the cure to this curse he would do anything to get it. For now, he would offer his assistance in anyway he could. Just the thought of them all slowly dying made his blood run cold and his spine tingle, this place was lined with darkness and despair it made itself apparent as soon as he stepped through that door and it was the people that made this castle seem so much more soulless, they had all suffered and the worse part? No one came to help, they were casted aside and even though he was only a small distance away he never knew about any of this, he was no help to them when they needed as much as they could get.

For a moment, he wondered that if he told his village, would they come to help? Would they give up some of their food to help the suffering? Then he remembered the one villager’s reaction when Noctis had come, granted he was stealing but he was never given a chance to explain himself, he was screamed at, attacked, he was feared, _and you had almost killed him._ He couldn’t blame the villager, not when he himself had reacted the exact same way, so no, the villagers wouldn’t come running to help if he told them, they’d come with bloodlust and a mountain of weapons and bared teeth, its not like many would believe you if you’d told them that something that looked so similar to the one thing that had harmed you and your loved ones was actually good and in need of your aid. He would have to do this himself and hopefully it would be enough. Now time to put this idea into a plan.

“I, I can get you food”.

More silent shocked faces; Luna’s eyes were blown wide and she had nothing but wonder in them, Ignis had a more questioning look but was surprised all the same, Noctis’ face showed more disbelief like he refused to accept his words, like they were all lies.

Soon enough, Luna found her voice and forced her open mouth of shock to close. “Prompto… this is so, so unexpected. I’m not sure what to say, we- “

“Why?”, Noctis sternly cut in, clenching his fists, his whole figure trembling, his face stone cold especially his eyes that almost seemed iced over not letting any emotion pass through. He didn’t believe him or didn’t want to, it was like he wouldn’t let himself believe the chance of hope as if he’d been disappointed too many times to even consider it. “Why would you help us?”.

“Noctis, please”, Ignis attempted to be the peace keeper, the role he had been practising since Prompto had arrived, things kept getting tense and the calm mind of reason always tried to die it down, but it didn’t always work.

“No!”

Noctis stepped down from the stairs and walked to Prompto until he was right in his face, trying to either intimidate or scare him. His next words were spoken close to the edge of anger, it almost sounded like a dare or a tease or a threat, “why the hell would you help beasts like us?”.

Time was passing, the air had been sucked out of the room leaving nothing but a tense and emotional atmosphere while waiting for the spoken answer.  At that moment, he knew he would have to say the right words and they would have to be truthful, any sign of him lying or any word spoken wrong could send everything to hell. The truth, he needed to say the truth.

“You’re not beasts”.

It wasn’t a direct answer, it was, however, an honest one and one he said with conviction staring right into those deep blue eyes that stretched outwards, Noctis’ mouth was frozen but not closed; his lips were poised like they were about to speak before changing their mind and his face was dumbfounded. His words must’ve halted his brain as well as it took a while before Noctis blinked and composed himself; making his face turn back again into one of displeasure and anger.

“That’s not what you said when you drew a sword on me”.

He knew that, he knew that Noctis was just speaking truthfully like he had and it _hurt;_ his heart clenched so it tight it was suffocating, his shoulders felt like the guilt the back of his mind came flooding through and was now dragging him down, drowning him in it. Slowly, he bowed his head, “I – I was wrong…”, he knew his voice was close to broken and although he didn’t cry, every breath he took hurt yet he steeled himself and faced the other head on, Noctis deserved an apology, a proper, sincere apology given to him directly not hidden away, “I – I didn’t, I didn’t – didn’t know – I… I’m sorry”.

Looking at him, he saw Noctis usual blank face staring back at him, his arms crossed and his eyes dead although he had definitely calmed down; his previous fire and defensive stance with a hidden threat to attack were gone, now he was just in a blank, calmer state.

Prompto offered up what he hoped was a friendly smile, “let me make it up to you?”.

Footsteps sounded and from the corner of his eye, Prompto saw Ignis approach them and stand by their sides. “If I may interrupt”. Noctis didn’t appear to be attempting any kind of response so Prompto focused his gaze on the bespectacled man. “That is a very kind offer Prompto but there are many residents here and very little currency, how are you going to provide enough food for us all?”.

“Well I…”, how was he going to afford it? Being a hunter didn’t pay as much as people may think and he doesn’t have much money… except, “I have savings. I know that will eventually run out and that its only a temporary solution but, it’s all I got right now.”. Now he just felt like a disappointment, he had brought up their hope with his words only to offer a short-term solution that wouldn’t fix anything, it was pathetic, he was pathetic.

As if sensing his inner turmoil, Ignis placed a paw on his shoulders in reassurance and comfort. “It’s better than what any of us have got at the moment, we’d be happy with whatever you can give us”.

Somewhere during their exchange, Luna had also made her way towards them and now stood in-between himself and Noctis. “Yes, we’d be very grateful. Now if you’re willing to go through all this for us, I suggest we should figure out how to get the food here”.

Prompto paused for a few seconds, thinking silently for an answer then he smiled when an idea came to mind, “Leave it to me, I’ve got transport”.

Luna smiled, “Marvellous. Do you require any assistance with any of this? I feel like we are asking too much of you”.

Smiling at her he shrugged off the concern, “you didn’t ask for any of it, I offered it. I’ll be fine on my own”. _Like always._

Next thing he knew, two slender arms wrapped themselves around his chest in a hug; Luna’s touch was warm and she gave him a final squeeze before letting go, “Thank you, for all of this”.

The unexpected hug threw him off and he rubbed his neck in embarrassment, “I, um, it’s really no problem.”, he cleared his throat and straightened himself, “So, I guess I’ll see you all later”.

He smiled before turning from the group and gathering his satchel from the sofa and heading to the door.

“Will you be alright making your way back?”, Luna asked.

 _She seems like the caring type,_ “I’ll be fine thanks, I’ll be back as soon as I can”.

“Stay safe Prompto”, Ignis bid him farewell.

Opening the door, he took one final look at the three; Luna and Ignis offered him a small wave while Noctis just stood there, an almost confused look on his face like he had no idea what had been happening in the last few moments. To be fair, Prompto was pretty shook up too but he managed a smile before he stepped through the door out into the open.

Trekking back to the village, his mind replayed all that had happened at the castle: meeting the half beasts, the arguments, the tale of the kingdom, the big group of people starving and a promise to help them all. Now only one question remained:

How the fuck was he going to get enough food to feed an entire kingdom?

 

 

Once the door had closed and Prompto’s footsteps could be heard fading away from them, Luna let out a small breath, “I didn’t expect that to happen today”.

“Or any day”, Ignis added.

She felt her lips turn upwards into a small, joyful smile, “This is a grand day. Prompto is giving his assistance to try to aid us, he has a good heart trying to help us all”.

A small smile was also present on Ignis face as he nodded in agreement and turned to Noctis, “You could’ve been nicer Noctis, you were standing there like a gaping fish instead of wishing our guest farewell and were the harsh words really necessary?”.

Noctis’ face was sour as he gave Ignis a hard stare before walking away and grumbling, “shut up Ignis”.

Hearing a door slam above them, Ignis sighed and shook his head, did he really have to slam the door? Luna placed a comforting hand on his arm and squeezed lightly, “do not judge him too harshly Ignis, his anger isn’t meant to be directed at you, I think he is just taking all this…difficultly”.

“Don’t worry, I never do. After everything that’s happened I can see why he would be reacting badly to all this, to the small plan we have made and will, hopefully, not end up like the other one. I imagine him unable to get anything for us had already dampened his mood to begin with.”

“Let us hope this day is the day of a new start; a better and brighter future”.

“You are very optimistic, my lady”.

“Well, someone has to be”.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOYOYO IM BACK  
> SOZ ITS SHORTER THAN USUAL I JUST WANTED TO GET THIS STUFF OUTTA WAY  
> ALSO SOZ IF IT SEEMS RUSHED OR SHIT, I DO REREAD MY WORK BUT NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I ADJUST STUFF AND REREAD IT AGAIN, TO ME IT STILL READS BAD SO I HOPE IT AINT THT BAD.
> 
> NOCT IS MOODY, NO? BUT WITH OUT HERO GETTING SOME FOOD WILL IT TURN THAT FROWN UPSIDE DOWN
> 
> ANYWAY TIME FOR THE GOODBYES WOOOOO: BTW IF YA HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FIC OR THE PLACE AND TIME SURROUNDING IT, PLZ DO ASK - I KNO IT CAN BE CONFUSING WITH EVERYTHIGN BEING NEW AND DIFFERENT:  
> YALL COMMENT IF YA WISH ABOUT WHATEVER YA WISH - WE'RE ALL HERE TO HAVE A GOOD TIME, PLEASE VISIT MA TUMBLR TO HAVE A CHAT OR TO BE NOSEY AT MA ACCOUNT THERE A LINK BELOW
> 
> HOPE YA HAVE A GOOD DAY/NIGHT LEXAX OUT
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> 


	6. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was getting dark and Prompto needed to get back.  
> And soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya enjoy ;)  
> Soz for any mistakes

 

By the time Prompto was close to the outskirts of the village it was already starting to get dark, guessing from the position of the sun it must’ve been around 7pm. Around him the forest was darker, the animals’ quieter, suspiciously quiet – it reminded him of a terrified prey hiding from a deadly predator or threat nearby, but what were they hiding from? It couldn’t have been himself, they were loud enough while he walked Noctis through here and they didn’t seem to be afraid of him either. His footsteps were the loudest thing there and he was careful to keep them steady and quieter than usual, just in case. The only light source was the small amount of sunlight left seeping through the treetops that were guarding the forest ground, the oddly glowing plants and mystical looking fireflies, it was almost a fairy tale scene. Except it wasn’t; because he was tired, slightly panicked, wary and in need of a really, really comfy bed and as much as he loved the sights around him, he really didn’t have the energy to properly appreciate it.

Plus, he didn’t have time to sight see. With sunset almost complete he needed to get back before questions were asked and suspicions were raised, he was known to be efficient in dealing with the aftermath of an attack as soon as possible, taking too many hours just wasn’t like him and the villagers knew that.

Luckily, a few more strides later, he had reached the same place the beast had fallen, the same place he had found _him_ and this whole messy situation had been born. The moment he stepped through the fields and was near some of the villagers’ houses, a door opened next to him and the same villager from before stepped through; the same one who was ‘attacked’ by Noctis and who, Prompto assumed, had ‘defended’ herself from the beast. She stepped to him with quick strides, her demeanour cheerful, and smiled, her hand taking his and squeezing it firmly.

“You’re back! Thank goodness, I hope it wasn’t too much trouble for you”.

“No, no mam, it all went smoothly”, his smile was forced, not that she would noticed, and his words were riddled with lies being spat at her face. He felt disgusted at himself for deceiving the woman.

“Good, good, thank you so much for your help. It’s a good thing ya got it, nasty things like that deserve to die”. Her smile however was genuine, blissfully unaware of how her speech had irritated him. He’d heard enough.

“Uh yeah, it’s really no problem”. Gently, he lifted her hand from his, “sorry but I gotta go, have a nice night mam”.

Without another word he briskly walked away, he heard a soft ‘good night’ then silence as he rounded a corner and headed for his home. Feeling in the back of his mind that he had forgotten _something._

 

“I’m home!”, he yelled as he entered through the front door into the hallway. Not that he expected a reply, Ardyn was always out of the village during the later part of the day, doing gods know what. At least he was around more than when he was younger, he was never home then and Prompto would always go to bed by himself, he’d tuck himself in and sleep through the night fighting through every struggle that disturbed him. Not that it was Ardyn’s fault, he was busy, Prompto knew that and it was fine. Completely fine.

“Ah Prompto, you’re home, about time”.

Prompto almost pulled out his knife before he registered the voice and saw a figure enter the hallway from the living room. “Oh, you’re here?”.

Ardyn was home, this was different, this had never, ever happened before. He was dressed in dark purple trousers and dark shirt, his auburn hair tousled which suggested he had been home all day, maybe he’s been asleep? Although the alert and oddly joyful glint in his eyes suggested otherwise. He chuckled at him, his arms crossed, “you make it sound like I’m never home”, he raised a playful eyebrow, “or are you not happy to see me?”.

Despite the obvious jest, he stumbled through his sentences, “What?! No! that’s not it! I – I mean, its just a surprise to see you here, ya know, at this time”, he felt the stuttering leave his lips and he scolded himself internally for being so stupid. _It’s just Ardyn, he doesn’t know anything, calm yourself._

“Relax Prompto, I’m teasing”, he smirked.

After a small breath to collect himself, he smiled back. It was genuinely a nice surprise to see him. He felt a small tug of joy in his heart, having someone to come back to after a day like today felt nice though it was also kind of unnerving coming back to someone he has to lie to. Ardyn’s smirk fell and a frown replaced it as he looked him over with inspecting eyes and for a second Prompto thought he could see right through him, that he could see what he had done, what had happened. But he kept smiling. _Keep your cool Prompto._

“Is something wrong?”, Prompto asked, making sure to only sound concerned and curious.

As the words left his mouth, Ardyn’s smirk returned again. _Thank gods._ “No, no, I was just wondering, where exactly are the groceries Prompto?”.

_The groceries… Shit, the groceries!_

He groaned outwardly and slumped, “Aw shit, I must’ve left them in town”, he gazed at Ardyn sheepishly, “sorry”.

In response, Ardyn chuckled “it’s no problem my boy, tell me, why did you leave them? I’m guessing you didn’t just drop them?”, he laughed a little too hard at his joking. It was kind of weird.

Awkwardly Prompto shuffled his feet, “ha, ha, yeah… there was another beast attack”.

And like that the fun, joking mood was gone and now Ardyn snarled, his hatred of them changing his whole countenance to one of despise and disgust. “Those bastards, was anyone hurt?”.

“No, everyone is safe”.

“And the beast?”.

The inquisitive glare he was receiving didn’t faze him and he spoke without faltering, this was the usual discussion after a beast attack and Ardyn’s reactions were always the same, by now Prompto was used to it. Although this time something seemed…off, almost forced. “Dead. Body hidden away”.

Ardyn stepped closer, smiling (that was the thing with Ardyn, his emotions and expressions could change quick as lightning) and he touched Prompto’s shoulder once he was close enough, his face filled with pride.

_You don’t deserve that._

“Good boy, well done”.

_Not any of it._

_You have disappointed him, he just doesn’t know it._

Intrusive thoughts in his mind but a smile on his face, Prompto replied, “Thanks… I guess I better go find those groceries huh?”.

“I would be grateful if you do, do not worry if you can’t find them there’s always tomorrow”.

_Won’t have time tomorrow, not with my plans._

“Sure!”.

 

The sun had set and the lanterns had been set ablaze, their fire revealing Prompto’s path and hopefully they would show his dropped bag as well. Crime wise, the village was fairly decent; thieving was very rare especially for small things like a bag of groceries but that didn’t stop Prompto from striding fast through the streets, trying his best to remember the exact place he had left it. The one thing he came out for and he left it behind; unbelievable. At least there wasn’t many people around, he would never find it in the busy streets of the morning.

As he was nearing the guessed location of his groceries, he heard a loud voice call out to him. “Hey! Prompto! Wait up!”.

 _Huh,_ he recognised that voice, he began to turn towards it, now who was it…

A large force crashed into him, he and it fell to the ground with a loud thud! Groans sounded soon after, _dammit that hurt._

“Ow shit, ow, ow… what the?”

“Oh sorry, sorry Prompto, ha, I guess I didn’t slow down soon enough”.

“Guess not”, he agreed, he twisted his neck to look up at the person on top of him; Cora, Cora Woodsworth, that’s who crashed into him, her petite form didn’t make the blow any smaller. Her long brown hair covered some of his view but he could see an apologetic smile on her red lips, her brown eyes staring back at him.

“Um, could you, you know”, he shifted his shoulders, “get off of me?”.

She blinked, then she smirked. “You sure you want me to move?”.

“Well, yeah”.

Miffed at his response, she gradually lifted herself off him and offered her hand out once she was up. He took it and raised from the floor, her hold lasted a little too long after he was standing. He brushed the dirt off his clothes. “So, what you doing out here at this time?”.

“Oh, just heading home actually, I lost track of time”, she let out a laugh and started to twirl her hair, “what about you?”.

“Um”, it was his turn to laugh at himself, “I kinda forgot the bag with my groceries in”.

Silence. Then a small, terribly hidden laugh erupted from Cora. Prompto groaned in embarrassment as the giggles slowly stopped.

“Aw, its ok Prompto, we all make mistakes”, she smirked at him, “Why don’t I help you find them? Then, maybe, you can escort this lady around the village, hmm?”. Her hand touched his arm and ran it up and down slowly, her eyelashes seemed to flutter at him.

Prompto froze, _nope, nope, nope,_ “Sorry Cora, can’t, I gotta get the groceries back to Ardyn”.

She sounded disappointed, “Aw, not even for a little bit?”, she stepped closer to him, intruding his personal space, “not even for me?”

This wasn’t the first time this had happened, oh no, Cora had a habit of ‘accidently’ running into him (literally and metaphorically) and then doing her best to spend some time with him. The first time he had agreed, she was nice and he didn’t have a reason not to but the constant touching and suggestive speaking had just grinded on him until he felt irritated being near her. After that he had made it clear to her that he was flattered but not interested, yet the next time she met him her persona hadn’t change and the obvious flirting had continued. Now, Prompto would like to think he was a nice guy and hating someone wasn’t something he did often but she was definitely close. He was all for giving second chances but he wasn’t naïve enough to think that she would act differently if they met up again. Cindy had congratulated him on not being one of those ‘stupid, horny men that are manipulated by woman’s tits’. He guessed he should be flattered…kinda.

Firmly he took hold of her hand and removed it form his arm, then he took a step back from her, “Sorry Cora, not interested”.

He walked away from her before she could respond.

 

After that encounter he _definitely_ needed his bed now. Thankfully he had been right on the bag’s location and after a few minutes, he had found it and was walking back home. Problem was, the sight of food made him realise his own hunger and his stomach grumbled in time with his steps, the solution, however, was right in front of him; the glazed bun he had brought from the bakery earlier. It still smelled gorgeous as he took it out from the bag and ate it while he continued on his way home. Tucking into his treat, he carefully planned through his next steps for tomorrow. Get money, get food, get it to the castle…right.

How hard could it be?

 

 

 

“You sure we can trust him?”.

“What choice do we have Noctis?”.

Noctis huffed in annoyance, Luna was right they were running out of options and this _Prompto_ might be their only hope. Still…

“He almost killed me, you know”.

“No, he didn’t, the villager attacked you not him”, she replied, slightly amused by the prince’s weak protests.

“Still drew a sword on me”

“Oh, come on now Noctis, you’re being ridiculous. He made a mistake and, despite your terrible attitude, he apologised for it even though he was only trying to protect his village. He seems like a nice man and I have full faith in him”, at that she moved from his bedroom door and closed it behind her, her footsteps could be heard heading to her own room.

He snarled to himself. _Nice man my ass._ He was being petty and stubborn and he knew it, if Gladio were here he would be calling him a whiny princess. Not that he cared. _Nearly stabs me with a sword and suddenly he’s ‘the saviour we need’._ He snorted, _what bullshit._

 

_That guy’s an asshole_

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELP THATS KINDA RUDE NOCT JEEZZZ  
> NOT MUCH HAPPENS THIS CHAPTER I KNO BUT IM AFRAID I CANT JUTS SKIP TO THE GOOD BITS EVEN THOUGH I REALLYYYY WANT TO.  
> THERE WILL BE MORE NOCT/ NOCT AND PROMPTO SCENES I PROMISE  
> THANKS FOR ALL THE COMMENTS AND KUDOS OR IF YA JUST READ IT AND THOUGHT: HUH THAT PRETTY GOOD.
> 
> ANYWAY ENOUGH RAMBLING, TIME FOR GOODBYES:  
> YALL COMMENT IF YA WISH ABOUT WHATEVER YA WISH - WE'RE ALL HERE TO HAVE A GOOD TIME, PLEASE VISIT MA TUMBLR TO HAVE A CHAT OR TO BE NOSEY AT MA ACCOUNT THERE A LINK BELOW
> 
> HOPE YA HAVE A GOOD DAY/NIGHT LEXAX OUT
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> 


	7. Commence the plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to put his plan into action.  
> He just hoped he could pull this off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soz for any mistakes or if its just shit  
> hope ya enjoy;)

 

Sleep frequently came and went that night, the morning approached too soon and Prompto woke feeling exhausted as though he had never gone to bed. However, even though his muscles ached when he forced himself to get out of bed, that didn’t stop him from cheerfully greeting Ardyn a good morning before he left for an out of town trip to someplace, somewhere, details were never shared, making himself some breakfast, getting changed into the same clothes from yesterday since he was too tired to find anything else, grabbing his secret stash of cash and stuffing it into his satchel and then setting out early to put his plan into action.

First stop was the bakery, to find Cindy and pray that she’ll help. Problem was; he didn’t really want to explain the whole situation to her, it wasn’t that he didn’t trust her, of all the villagers Cindy would be the only he would trust with the story that he learned yesterday, but… he didn’t feel like it was his story to tell. Everything that had happened to those poor people were their business and more people knowing their story didn’t seem like something they would want. They’ve stayed in the shadows all this time, last thing he wanted was to make them known to the world again – not when he knows what will happen if people _do_ find out. However, he’s got to tell her something, she’ll sense that something’s off and she won’t help him unless he spills it. Which is fair enough, he is asking a lot of her.

He needed the help though, he wasn’t going to be able to do this himself, not without drawing attention anyway.

Speaking of attention, the sunlight that flourished over the early morning sky had drawn out the crowds, large expanses of people swarmed through the stalls, fitting their bodies into whatever space was left in the market area, buying whatever their hands could grab, not helpful to his plan. One good thing about the nice weather is that transport later would go more smoothly in it. One annoying bad thing about it was that getting all the food out of the village without anyone noticing would be harder, almost impossible. There were too many eyes. At that moment he wished for rain or a storm, _anything._ Not that they came.

Although, maybe the crowds were a blessing, no one noticed him as he slipped through them and made his way into the bakery, maybe they wouldn’t notice the food either being too busy with buying something before someone else did, business must be booming.

Surprisingly, the crowds outside didn’t match the inside of the bakery; it was mainly empty excluding only two people who were making their order as he stepped up to the counter. He stayed silent while waiting, watching Cindy bubbly take their orders and smoothly whipping out the correct fresh goods. Her white apron was smeared with icing and crumbs and her hair was slightly frazzled, looks like he had just missed the morning rush. A final farewell and then it was his turn, she smiled as he replaced where the previous two men were standing.

“Wow Prompto, another visit? Boy, this week sure is a lucky one”. Despite the clear tiredness in her eyes, she spoke to him with cheer sounding genuinely happy to see him, it made him feel even more guilty to ask her to get involved in all of this. “Now, what can I do for ya today?”.

_How should I put this?_ “I, uh, I need your help”, _smooth, very specific, well fucking done._

She raised a questioning eyebrow at him, suspicion already rising to her eyes, “right… wanna clarify on that? Or am I supposed to guess?”.

“Umm… I – I”, he really should’ve thought this through before coming here, he could’ve at least gone through what he was going to say, he sighed, “last night I found… this big group of people who need some help and I, um, need your help to help them”. Gods he was really messing this up.

Nodding her head slowly she asked, “uh huh and why don’t your ‘group of people’ ya found come here?”.

“They, they can’t because… ok, ok, listen, basically um”, another sigh, his voice lowered sounding a little tired, “I’m sorry, I can’t tell you everything Cindy but please”, his down expression looked into her eyes, “they need help and I can’t do it without- without you”.

A pause.

“Alright, alright, don’t look at me like that, you look like a kicked puppy. What do you need me to do?”.

They were getting somewhere now, he could do this, they could do this, “this big group of people don’t, well they don’t have any food left so”, he chuckled, his voice portraying the ridiculousness of his next sentence like he was asking for fire to fall from the sky, “basically, I need enough food for… an entire kingdom”.

Her face was blank, her eyes disbelievingly, refusing to believe his words were serious. “Prompto, that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard in my life”.

His shoulders dropped, his smile faded and reality hit him the face; who would agree to be part of such a ridiculous idea. Dejected, he asked “so, you won’t help me?”.

A loud smack sounded to his right, he felt a hand slapped down on his shoulder, she was smiling at him, “I never said that”.

His face morphed back into joy slowly as his brain caught up; _she’s going to help, we’re actually going to be able to do this_. In his head he had already planned to walk back up to the castle and sorrowfully tell them he was of no use, but now…

“You’re, you’re really gonna help?”, she nodded and he leapt over the counter to squash her in a tight hug, “thank you!”.

She laughed, surprised by the sudden action but wasted no time in returning the hug, “You’re very welcome, ya big puppy!” she let go, he was too gleeful to notice and kept his hands wrapped around her lower back. She pushed at his stomach, smiling, “get off of me!”.

He let her go but a dumb smile still stayed on his face which she just smirked at. “Now, I hope you have a plan”.

“Surprisingly, I do!”

The plan was simple: Cindy would place an order of food for her ‘bakery’, once delivered, and paid for with Prompto’s savings, they’d move it all to the back where they would load it onto his chocobo drawn wooden cart which was rather large in size and had a clothed roof and sides so no one could see what he was transporting and the food would be protected. He would wait until dark before setting off to the castle alone since the streets were far too busy in this daylight. Shouldn’t be too hard, the hardest part was convincing Cindy so the rest of it should be a piece of cake.

After explaining the plan to Cindy and having her approve it, she ventured to the market to make her order; smartly, she suggested instead of ordering it all from one shop they would do smaller orders from many shops – easier for the shopkeepers to get the stuff in time and less questions would be asked. While Cindy was doing her part, Prompto walked back home to collect his cart, making a fuss of his Chocobos before prepping them for the journey; giving them plenty of food and water (and making sure to pack some into his satchel, just in case), brushing their golden feathers and finally tacking them to the cart. Before leaving, he ran inside and grabbed one of the lanterns and, to be safe, two of his small knives, not that he was expecting a fight. Returning to his cart he hung the lantern on the front of the cart and tossed the knives into his satchel, then he rode off to the bakery.

 

When he had gotten back and had parked his cart round back it was already mid-afternoon and all of the orders were placed, he had left the math up to Cindy when it came to how much they should actually order, he hoped it would be enough. Nothing was left to do until the food arrived so instead of returning home, Prompto did some jobs around the bakery as a way to thank Cindy for her help (she had said it was unnecessary but he had insisted). Once most customers had left and the streets were getting emptier the sky began to get darker and darker, the orders arrived not long after they had closed up shop. Box by box they carried to the back of the shop, out of the back door and into the safe containment of Prompto’s cart. It took a long while, he had definitely underestimated how much food Cindy could bargain for with the amount of money he gave her, if this wasn’t enough he didn’t know what was. An hour passed before he could close the cloth curtains at the back of the cart and fasten them shut. Done.

The journey time from the bakery to the castle with this amount of weight would take a good thirty minutes if he remembered the path well. Before he left he gave Cindy one last hug.

“Thank you for all of this”.

“Aww, stop thanking me and get going”.

One last squeeze then he let go of her and smiled. He walked to the front of the cart, lighted one of the lanterns, climb aboard and took hold of the reins. With a smack of the reins, the Chocobos took off and settled into a gentle pace.

“Prompto!”.

He risked a glance behind him and saw Cindy waving, “Just be careful! Ya hear me!”.

“Will do!”.

 

 

In the dark it was much harder to remember the path he and Noctis took before, every tree looked the same and very little noise was heard, he almost thought he took a wrong turn until he saw a very familiar looking rock that he recalled from yesterday. Now he knew where he was, he wasn’t far from the castle, he just hoped he would be greeted with friendly faces and not a dark haired grumpy beast that _definitely_ doesn’t like him or his presence near his castle. There again, he was delivering the food like promised, how badly could he react to that?

Eventually the castle crossed his view and he urged his Chocobos to increase in speed as he neared closer to the gates and he slowed them down to a stop once they were right outside the old wooden door that led inside. He tied the reins to a nearby fence, although he knew they wouldn’t run away, they never have, and stepped to the door knocking it twice.

Mummers could be heard from beyond the door, it sounded like a heated debate or argument in hushed whispers so he couldn’t make out what they were saying. A few minutes passed and the mummers didn’t stop nor did the door open.

“Uh, Hello!? It’s me Prompto!”.

His shouts silenced the mummers and the sound of a lock being clicked undone was heard before the door opened to reveal a smiling Luna and a not so smiling Noctis next to her. Well, at least one of them was happy to see them.

“Prompto! We didn’t expect you back so soon. Please, come in”, she invited him but he didn’t move from his spot and, just as she was going to question what the matter was, he spoke up.

“Right, um but where do you want me to put this first?”.

Both Noctis’ and Luna’s eyes shifted passed him to discover the cart behind him with two Chocobos happily waiting at the front of it. Their eyes widened and they stayed frozen in place, staring at it. A few long, silent seconds passed until Luna managed to pry her eyes away and, with a still surprised gaze, asked, “Prompto is- is that the- “.

He rubbed the back of his neck, he felt weirdly embarrassed and off putted by their stares and lack of movement, Luna couldn’t even finish her sentence. “Was- was I not suppose to bring the food so quickly?”, maybe he should’ve given them a heads up.

She waved off his question, “no, no it’s not that. We- we just didn’t expect for you to get the food so- so soon”.

“Well I didn’t know how low you guys were, so I just thought”, he let out a small, uneasy chuckle still a little unnerved by their reactions, especially Noctis' whose eyes still hadn’t unfroze from his cart and his body appeared unnaturally still, “the sooner the better, right?”.

She nodded, “yes, yes of course, this is brilliant. Thank you ever so much Prompto, we are eternally grateful”.

Another small chuckle, “it’s really no problem. I hope it’s enough”.

Completely over the initial surprise she smiled at him kindly, “I’m sure it will be. Please come in, we can unload the food later”.

“Oh”, they still wanted him as a guest? He thought they would have just taken the food and want him to leave as soon as possible, only to come back with more for when they needed it. The invite inside was nice though. “Sure, thanks!”.

Noctis, who hadn’t stopped staring at his cart, finally snapped out of it and walked inside. Luna kept the door open for Prompto as he stepped through.

 

The place looked pretty much the same, except this time there was considerately less dust and the room was brighter as the grand, silver chandeliers shined above; this, along with the fire, created a nicely lit room. He, Noctis and Luna were the only ones present in the room, it made Prompto wonder what the people who live here do all day, how big was this place? Where they all content with staying in this one building? Probably not.

Luna waved her hand beside where she sat to invite him to sit next to her on one of the big red sofas while Noctis sat on the sofa beside their one. They had definitely dusted these sofas, Prompto could actually see the whole red of the sofa rather than have grey patches amongst it.

On the other sofa Noctis was trying his hardest to avoid any look Prompto sent his way, he was ignoring him, not that Prompto could understand why. Not wanting to disturb Noctis’ sullen, sulky state or make him pissed off with him again, Prompto left him alone and focused on Luna.

“We really appreciate all you have done Prompto”, although her eyes shined with joy and relief Prompto saw a little sadness behind them, “we don’t know what we would’ve done if you hadn’t showed up.”.

“You really don’t need to keep thanking me, I couldn’t just leave you all like this”.

Her smiled faltered slightly, “then you are better than most. We were abandoned by everyone else in the kingdom, so for you to aid us it”, the smile returned, “it means a lot”.

Taken back by her sincere words, he stuttered, “I- well, um, its – its really no problem – I – “.

“How did you get all that food so quickly?”.

Noctis’ harsh tone interrupted his rambling which Prompto was partly grateful for, however he didn’t appreciate the implying, hard, suspicious voice that was directed at him.

“I didn’t do it all myself. I had some help from a friend”

Noctis’ face snapped up at that, staring hard at him, his eyes alight with a familiar rage Prompto recognised from yesterday. “You _told_ someone about us!?”.

Filled with anger, Noctis stood from the sofa and stared down at him with clench fists, his eyes ice cold and his voice lined with venom. “Do you have _any_ idea of how much of a risk that is to us?! Your ‘friend’ could tell everyone! Hell, WHY DON’T YOU TELL THE WHOLE WORLD AND WATCH IT HUNT US DOWN ONE BY ONE!”.

He felt Luna shift beside, preparing to stand and try to calm him down, Prompto held out a small hand near her stomach to stop her movements. She casted a worried glance at him, he shook his head side to side and smiled to reassure her. Then he joined Noctis in standing and firmly spat out his next words to the so called ‘prince’.

“I didn’t tell my friend anything, she helped because she trusts me and I trust her. The _only_ reason I didn’t tell her was because I didn’t think _I_ had any right to”, now fuming he stepped closer to Noctis, getting right up into his face, he was _done_ with being nice with this asshole. “Don’t you _dare_ imply she would’ve betrayed me even if I had told her everything!”. He bared his teeth at Noctis' taken aback expression. “Despite what you may think _‘prince Noctis’_ some people are trustworthy and only want to _help_ if you would just let them!”.

His chest was heaving either from his spat-out words or his anger at the other or both, Prompto kept his stone-cold eyes at Noctis who only looked back in shock. Until Noctis narrowed his eyes at him and, without another word, turned from him and strode out of the castle, slamming the wooden front door behind him. The sudden action dissipated any anger left and Prompto made his tense form relax so he could calmly turn to Luna.

The look of fear on her face unnerved him, it's not like this is the first time Noctis had lost his temper, so why does she look so scared now?

“What’s- what’s wron- “.

“Please, you’ve got to go after him!”.

He blinked owlishly at her, “huh?”.

She frantically looked at him, her distress obvious in her wide eyes, “Please, it’s dangerous to go too far out there at this time. The beasts will get to him and with his wounds he won’t stand a chance! Please! He’ll be too caught up in his own anger to realise!”.

His eyes widened, copying Luna’s. He may not like Noctis and Noctis may not like him back but that didn’t mean he could just _leave_ him to get hurt and if Luna was right about real beasts being out there…

He’s got to go after him.

To help Luna’s state, he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and with the upmost amount of sincerity he could said, “I’ll go get him, don’t worry. Just wait for us here, ok?”.

She nodded at him and he sprinted out the door after the disgruntled man. He made a quick stop at his cart and got out his weapons from his satchel. Only two small knives, he hadn’t expected a rescue mission. _Oh well, it would have to do._ With his only weapons he set off after Noctis.

Good thing he was a good tracker.

 

_Don’t be an idiot now Noctis, just stay alive._

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELP NOW THINGS START TO GET INTERESTING AND ITS ALSO TIME TO GET MORE PROMPTO AND NOCTIS INTERACTIONS - ABOUT TIME, ITS ALWAYS MORE FUN WHEN STUFF STARTS HAPPENING BETWEEN THESE TWO.
> 
> NOCT STILL AN ASS BUT HES BEEN THOUGH A LOT SO GIVE HIM TIME
> 
> CINDY ALWAYS HAVE TO HELP THIS BLONDE FOOL
> 
> NEXT CHAPTER IM REALLLYYY LOOOKING FORWARD TO WRITING SO I HOPE U LOOK FORWARD TO READIN IT
> 
> ANYAY TIME FOR GOODBYES:  
> YALL COMMENT IF YA WISH ABOUT WHATEVER YA WISH - WE'RE ALL HERE TO HAVE A GOOD TIME, PLEASE VISIT MA TUMBLR TO HAVE A CHAT OR TO BE NOSEY AT MA ACCOUNT THERE A LINK BELOW
> 
> HOPE YA HAVE A GOOD DAY/NIGHT LEXAX OUT
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> 


	8. Finding Noctis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He needed to find him.  
> He only hoped that when he did, Noctis would be on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soz for any mistakes  
> Hope ya enjoy ;)

 

Breath, step, breath, step, breath, step, breath, step, each step was urged to be quicker than the last, he kept running in the direction he had concluded Noctis had went with the snapped twigs and trampled leaves on the ground. In his anger Noctis must’ve stormed off with hurried steps to get this far, it would’ve been so much easier if he had just _walked_ in his moody state. _Can’t make it easy for me, can you?_ He couldn’t have gotten that far, at the speed Prompto was going he should stumble upon him soon and, with luck, he would only see Noctis and nothing else with him.

A growl sounded in front of him; it was either Noctis or a beast either way that sound can’t mean anything good. Another growl then a chorus of them. _Shit._ Luna was right, Noctis had met some trouble and quite a bit of it by the sound of it. He ignored the pain in his legs as he increased his speed further directing himself straight to the sounds. At least there was no screams of pain, yet. At that moment he felt a sudden sense of nostalgia wash over him; running, rescue, beasts, except this time he was saving the person he was running to kill last time. _Huh, funny that._

An opening could be seen in the distance and in it was Noctis panting heavily and clutching his injured side while he fought off a group of beasts. He was completely surrounded by them: five in total, each a different shape and size but all of them had sharp teeth and claws and had some resemblance to a wolf. From a distance, still running towards him, Prompto watched Noctis try his best to fight them off but with his injuries, which hadn’t had the chance to heal properly, Prompto could see each movement was a strain. He didn’t stop though, he swung at two beasts while a third was approaching him, he swung again. _He could win this,_ Prompto thought as he neared closer until he saw one of them sneaking behind Noctis and while Noctis took another strike at the two in front of him, the one behind him was approaching fast and he hadn’t noticed.

_Come on, run, run._

Never in his life had he been so fast, so stressed at a beast attack, except…

No, no time for thinking of that. Just focus.

He was getting closer to him but so was it. He couldn’t yell to Noctis, he would only distract him meaning the other beasts would get an advantage, a chance to attack. It lunged at Noctis’ back, its teeth bare, its red eyes narrowing in on his neck.

Prompto’s body collided with it before it reached Noctis and, with his body force combined with his speed, they were sent flying down to the ground. Recovering from the blow to the ground it tried to snap at Prompto instead, he pushed the beast down so it couldn’t move making sure its teeth and claws couldn’t reach him then he reached for one of his knives and sliced its neck. Dead. One down, four to go.

His presence hadn’t affected Noctis’ focus on keeping off the others and the dark-haired man was still striking poorly at the oncoming attacks. The beasts didn’t appear to care about Prompto’s presence either, probably thinking he wasn’t as big of a threat to kill. Good, it meant he had the advantage.

He took out his other knife and, with one in each hand, he moved closer to Noctis, making sure to keep an eye on all the beasts and slicing any of them that came too close. Before he could reach his side, another jumped at Noctis, digging its claws into his shoulders and hanging onto him, he screamed. The amount of pain prevented Noctis from doing much other than tossing his shoulder side to side to try to get it off of him. Prompto rushed over to him, dodging any beasts that now noticed his interference in their kill. He grabbed the beast on Noctis’ shoulder and pulled it off him then he finished it with a stab in the chest. Tired and hurt, Noctis couldn’t keep himself up and fell to his knees clutching his shoulder.

Prompto watched him, helpless on the floor. His breaths were short and heavy, the blood from his wound ran down his chest. He prayed, to any god that would listen, Noctis would be able to get back up.

The remaining three beasts circled them, growling. Not making any move to attack yet but they would soon and on the floor like this, Noctis didn’t stand a chance. Keeping his gaze on the beasts, Prompto nudged Noctis gently, “you’ve got to get out of here”. Out of the corner of his eye, Prompto saw Noctis lift his head to look at him. “When I say go, move as fast as you can to the bushes over there”, he nodded slightly in the direction to their right where the forest became thicker again. Prompto readied his knives and stood ready, “I’ll provide the distraction”, he looked at Noctis, “you just go, got it?”.

Eventually, Noctis nodded and not too soon either because seconds later the beasts made their attack and advanced on them; ready to kill.

The quickest one ran to Prompto and jumped, Prompto pushed that one away just as the other two came at him, he kicked at one and sliced the other. “Go!”.

He heard a groan and a shuffle of movement, he saw Noctis quickly limp into his directed place. _Good, he was safe._ Three beasts left, none of them dead; the first one was just getting up from the floor where he had thrown it, the kicked one was also up and he had only sliced the third’s one side lightly – not deep enough to kill. But that wasn’t his intent anyway, to get Noctis to safety he had to get all three incapacitated and immobile, he didn’t have the time to kill one not without endangering Noctis to the others. And he couldn’t kill them all at once, altogether. He was good but not that good.

Now though, he could finish them off.

They attacked separately, their coordination with each other completely non-existent, that was the thing with being mindless beasts; they couldn’t attack strategically or work together – they didn't have the brain power to, a major disadvantage to them. The first aimed for his leg, Prompto plunged his knife into its neck before it could. The second one was faster, striking its claws and fangs at him multiple times, a few of its hits managed to scrap him but they weren’t deep enough to be a problem as long as he kept blocking or dodging the major attacks he would win. The third one joined in on the onslaught, using both knives Prompto dodged, parried and returned each attack, this would’ve been so much easier with his sword. With a swift swing of his arm, he flung one of the beasts to the side so he could finish off the other one. The many wounds he had delivered on the beast had slowed it down and with one final opening in its attacks, it went down. One left to go.

He turned from the one dead on the floor to the direction he had thrown the other, his eyes widened. Unfortunately, even with its many wounds, somehow the beast had already gotten up and was staggering rather quickly to Noctis. The dark haired prince had sat on the floor, to rest his wounds and get whatever energy he could back. At seeing the beast, he rose and backed away from it until his back reached a tree. With it being so close to him he wouldn’t be able to outrun it, he stood there frozen, terrified. Prompto set off toward them, moving quickly. The beast was right beside Noctis, it growled. Prompto ran, so close, almost there.

The beast viciously bit down on the man in front of him.

Prompto swallowed his scream as the beast’s teeth sunk into his stomach and he returned the favour by stabbing the thing in the chest; killing it. Shaking, he turned to Noctis behind him who was staring at him wide eyes, his own injuries seemingly forgotten. Prompto dropped his knives and fell to his knees, clutching his wound. He let out a small sound of pain and blinked slowly as his vision slowing started to turn black. He lifted his head and watched Noctis move closer and crouch down; his mouth opening and closing, was he… talking? Prompto didn’t hear any sound but it appeared like he was calling his name. Noctis’ eyes widened further in panic when he got no response from him. He felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly. He could be wrong but before his vision went black, Prompto could’ve sworn he heard a scared, broken cry of his name.

 

Noctis saw Prompto’s eyes slowly close as his body slumped forward, he caught him and held him gently. “Prompto!?, Prompto can you hear me!?”. No response, not even a twitch or a sound. He felt a warm flow of water fall from his eyes, _this is my fault, this is my fault, this is my fault._ His voice was hoarse and broken, “please, please wake up”, he whispered. _If- if he dies, because- because of me…_

He forced himself to snap out of his self-remorse, he couldn’t just break not here not now. Prompto wasn’t dead, he could see the slow rise and fall of his chest but he didn’t know how long he would last. He had to get him some help.

He moved Prompto’s position in his arms so one of his arms under his legs and the other was behind his back and stood up, his shoulder stung in protest of the weight in his arms. He ignored any pain from his wounds, his weren’t fatal, Prompto’s was, and he walked with a small limp in the direction of the castle, firmly holding onto the man in his arms.

 

_Please, don’t die._

In front of the castle’s door Noctis breath was laboured, his legs were weak and felt like they were gonna collapse on him at any second, he couldn’t feel his arms and his shoulder hurt like hell. Unable to open the door, Noctis bashed the side of his body into it making a loud bang and waited.

The door opened to reveal Luna who took one look at them and tossed the door open, her face a mixture of worried and scared. “What happened?!”.

Noctis stepped through the door and used his last strength to lay Prompto on one of the sofas and sit himself down on the other, his hand returned to his shoulder which had stopped bleeding but Prompto’s stomach wound hadn’t. His breaths were quick and short and he struggled to speak, “beasts…attack. You’ve- you’ve got to help…him”.

Luna closed the door and knelt down by Prompto’s wounded form on the sofa, her eyes going straight to his stomach. She clasped her hand on her mouth, whispering, “oh gods…”. Tears were building up in her eyes and she turned her head to Noctis, “Noctis… I don’t know if we can- if we’re able to do anything for him”.

“We’ve- we’ve got to! He’s gonna die if we don’t! Please!”, he sat up straight, going against his bodies needy cries of rest and his eyes flickered from Prompto to Luna, he felt tears forming in his eyes again.

“We- we don’t have any first aid supplies here Noctis. Dirty bandages aren’t going to save him”.

He slouched down, his head in his arms, “no…no, no, no”, he was going to be responsible for another death, more blood on his hands from a person who had only been kind and had helped them and had saved his life… twice now and he…

No. Wait.

A memory sparked into Noctis head and he snapped his gaze back to Luna. Yesterday, he had tried to wrap his own wounds with those stupid bandages and Prompto had stopped him, he had tended to his wounds with his own supplies from his green box, his first aid kit… in his satchel. A satchel that sat with him when he had arrived here with his cart.

Forcing his legs to move, Noctis abruptly stood up and rushed outside. Luna called after him, he didn’t stop. He walked through the pain of his throbbing limbs and approached the cart with tear filled eyes. The Chocobos didn’t freak as he thought they would and stood still, only making worried questioning noises while he grabbed the satchel at the front of the cart. He scoured through the satchel finding the green box at the bottom of it. Successfully finding what he wanted he took the box and the satchel and ran back inside, a bit of hope lodging its way into his chest.

Back into the castle, he crouched next to Luna who was still sat by the sofa Prompto laid on. He opened the first aid kit and felt a sigh of relief from Luna and his own hope grew. Luckily, Prompto kept a heavy stock of different types of medicines and bandages and the kit was basically full, excluding the bit of bandages Noctis used yesterday.

He wiped at his eyes and looked at Luna, “will this be enough?”.

She smiled, it was a small smile but it was a real one, “yes, with this we can help him”.

Noctis felt himself return the smile and turned to Prompto’s resting form, he reached out a took hold of one of the blonde’s hands, “hang in there Prompto”.

They took out the needed supplies from the first aid kit and began cleansing Prompto’s wound. At least he wouldn’t need stitches, the wound had been angled so that it was long but not deep enough to not close on its own. Noctis wondered if Prompto had done that intentionally. Any other injuries Prompto had obtained didn’t need anything done to them, they were only small scratches. With both of them working together, it was over in a matter of minutes and once they were done Luna had insisted on tending to Noctis’ wounds right then and there before they got infected

After Luna had tied a final knot on his bandages, she packed away the remaining equipment into the green box whilst Noctis found a blanket and placed it upon Prompto. Then he sat on the other sofa, resting his sore legs and finally getting a chance to catch his breath and calm his rapid heartbeat.

“I’m going to go get some help to get that food in and shelter the Chocobos, will you be alright?”, she asked him.

“Yeah, I’ll be alright”, he found his gaze back on Prompto, “Will it affect his injuries if I move him somewhere more comfortable?”.

“No, it won’t”, she answered, “and it won’t affect yours if you’re careful. However, I don’t think we have any spare beds”.

“He can have mine”.

Her eyes settled on him softly, he didn’t look up, “Noctis you need to sleep too, you can’t just give up your bed when you too are- “.

“He needs it more than I do”, he interrupted and looked at her with such stubbornness that it halted any further argument or protest from her. Trying to deter him from his decision was futile.

“Alright, but make sure you get some sleep. Goodnight Noctis”.

“Night Luna”.

He watched her disappear up the stairs and down one of the hallways. He sighed. Exhaustion was starting to take over him and he needed to get Prompto upstairs before his mind and body shuts down. Carefully, he stood from the sofa and walked up to Prompto's side, he took one look at the blonde and then picked him up gently, the blanket still covering him, and carried him up the stairs to his room.

After a few painful steps upstairs and to the inside of his room, Noctis laid Prompto on the bed and covered him with the duvet covers. Then he grabbed a chair, pillow and spare blanket, he placed the chair beside the bed next to Prompto, tossed the pillow onto it, sat down and set the blanket on top of him. He watched the rise and fall of Prompto’s chest and checked his pulse just for extra reassurance. He didn’t let go of Prompto’s wrist and fell asleep feeling his heartbeat.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS WAS REAL FUN TO WRITE WHICH WHY IT WAS DONE SO QUICK.
> 
> WELP THAT WAS TENSE, AT LEAST NO ONE DIED
> 
> THANKS FOR READIN TIME FRO GOODBYES:  
> YALL COMMENT IF YA WISH ABOUT WHATEVER YA WISH - WE'RE ALL HERE TO HAVE A GOOD TIME, PLEASE VISIT MA TUMBLR TO HAVE A CHAT OR TO BE NOSEY AT MA ACCOUNT THERE A LINK BELOW
> 
> HOPE YA HAVE A GOOD DAY/NIGHT LEXAX OUT
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> 


	9. Waking up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto woke to a room that defiantly wasn't his with a sleeping Noctis close by.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading  
> Hope ya enjoy  
> Soz for any mistakes

 

Deep endless black turned to white then back to black again until he forcefully opened his eyes. Prompto woke in a room that definitely wasn’t his, the ceiling was different; his wasn’t made up of red and golds and so extravagant, the bed was too comfy to be his either. _Where the hell am I?_ Most of his body ached, he lifted his head to see the damage seeing a few cuts and bruises and his stomach wrapped in bandages. It wasn't pretty to look at but it could've been a lot worse; the stomach wound will leave some scarring, more to add to his collection. His head dropped back down onto the comfort of the extremely soft pillows that felt like they were made with the most valuable feathers crafted by the gods themselves. Fancy walls, quality bed, highly decorated room; looks like he’s back at the castle. Also…

Why did his wrist feel so warm?

He lifted his head back up, despite how comfy it was to _not_ do that, and turned to his left where his wrist laid along with a sleeping Noctis, his head lying on the bed and his paw firmly wrapped around Prompto’s wrist. The patch of white caught his attention, Noctis shoulder was patched up and wrapped with _clean_ bandages, thank gods.

_Oh right _. The attack, the beasts… but how did they get back here?__

____

A little pain shot through his stomach as he sat himself up in the bed, the movement stirred Noctis awake and he sluggishly rose his head, his eyes bleary and in desperate need of more sleep. His face awoke more when his eyes landed on the awake Prompto who was looking right back.

____

Blinking in effort of getting rid of the blur in his eyes, Noctis' scratchy voice spoke up, “hey… you’re awake”.

____

Prompto’s eyebrow shot up and a small smile tugged at his lips, “looks like it, yeah”.

____

Now able to see him clearly, Noctis frowned, “you should be resting. You shouldn’t be sitting up”.

____

“Oh yeah? I could say the same thing about you”, Prompto snorted and the prince was clearly too tired to come up with a good comeback. “How did we get back here?”.

____

Without thinking, Noctis tried to shrug before a sharp pain shot through his shoulder and he hissed, Prompto silently watched as he composed himself and gently lowered his shoulder, “I had to carry you back after you…”, Noctis trailed off and his head lowered which caused him to notice he was still holding Prompto’s wrist, he quickly redrew his paw with a small, quiet “sorry”.

____

The guilt and sadness in Noctis’ tone was overwhelming, the amount of emotion that could shine through his voice was unbelievably and it made Prompto's heart plunge into sadness. Noctis didn’t need to sound like that, to avoid his gaze. He didn’t blame him – not in the slightest. It wasn’t his fault. None of it.

____

Lost in his head, staring blankly to the side, Prompto missed Noctis’ little peek from beneath his bangs covering his eyes and didn’t notice him until Noctis let out a small, unsteady sigh and raised his head.

____

“Listen I’m… I’m really, really sorry”. The words got quieter the more he spoke, Prompto couldn’t tell if it was embarrassment or guilt that was giving him troubles with his speech. “I shouldn’t have run off like that and if I hadn’t been such a… then you wouldn’t be… I’m sorry”.

____

Words were coming out forced and his sentences were incomplete, yet the message was clear; the poor man was broken over all this, the guilt tearing him apart so badly that he couldn’t keep eye contact for two straight seconds. These past days had been…weird and Noctis’ behaviour hadn’t always been the nicest (or ever been the nicest now Prompto thought about it) and he certainly hadn’t dealt with it all well or calmly like Luna had. But through the moody attitude and his stubbornness to make his dislike to Prompto as clear as possible was someone who did genuinely care, about the people here, about his friends and keeping everyone here safe. He did risk his life just to try to get some food after all. And, even though they hadn’t met on the best of terms and had only argued through their very short meetings, he did honestly appear sorrowful for Prompto’s injuries when they weren’t his fault, not really.

____

“Dude, you’ve really got to stop apologising. It’s not your fault, I don’t blame you”, he stated truthfully, giving Noctis a small smile.

____

Of course, Noctis, stubborn in his nature, didn't accept the words as being honest and with clouded eyes and a stammering voice he attempted to argue back. Their conversations always went back to arguing or disagreeing in one way or another. “But I – I, you would have never- never gotten hurt if I- if I hadn’t. You can’t honestly believe that, you were hurt because of me!”.

____

Prompto shrugged with a lot less pain than Noctis had, “It ain’t so bad. Plus, I don’t remember **you** being the one who attacked me”. His smile didn't leave his face. Noctis’ pure blue eyes narrowed in thinking, their open windows showing an array of emotions creating a confusing muddle; surprise, awe, irritation, guilt, a little fear, a little shame.

____

“Well- well no but, ugh”, he let out a sound of frustration like convincing Prompto it was _his_ fault was the hardest thing in the world, “you would’ve never gotten hurt if you weren’t out there with me.”

____

His smile vanished and was replaced by a serious, annoyed look , “and if I hadn’t been out there, you would be dead”. The forward and backward arguments of whose right and whose wrong he could take, but he would not let Noctis use such a stupid argument that it would’ve been better if he had left him to go out there on his own. That’s just plain dumb, he didn’t regret going after him so why should Noctis? A few injuries were a better price to pay than a life.

____

Taken aback, Noctis looked away and mumbled “yeah, well…

____

No comeback this time and it looked like the dark-haired man had ran out of any further argument, his stubbornness slowly melting away and with it, Prompto could see with delighted eyes, some of the guilt as well.  Although those blue eyes still refused to look at him. He laughed lightly at Noctis grumbled state. “You know, most people just say ‘hey Prom, thanks for saving my life’ and leave it at that”.

____

It took a few seconds but Noctis did look at him then, a small amount of… was that amusement in his eyes? Was he finally going to get a smile out of this miserable prince? Noctis rubbed the back of neck, and spoke a little awkwardly, clearly not use to giving thanks, “Yeah, well thank you. I dunno what would’ve happened if you hadn’t turned up when you did, and I don’t mean just turning up to save my ass either. I should also thank you for, you know,”. He mumbled his next words but kept his eyes on him, “for turning up at the castle when you did and keeping your promise of bringing the food back to us. I know I’ve been a bit of an ass and I- “.

____

“Only a bit?”, Prompto interrupted him with a teasing tone, his eyebrow raised and his smirk evident.

____

Noctis snorted, actually _snorted,_ and showed a smile, an actual smile, “Yeah ok, maybe more than just ‘a bit’”.

____

They laughed and whatever guilt left on Noctis’ conscience seemed to leave making the room’s atmosphere a more comfortable, friendly one. Different to what it usually was like. Less tense, more relaxed and void of any ongoing arguments or unbridled emotions.

____

Although, when the laughter subsided, the calm feeling in the room turned into an odd silence; not awkward, not pleasant either, both trying to think of ways to break it rather than relax and enjoy it. Technically, they were still strangers to each other and with little to no knowledge of who the other person was except for: the blonde that saved my ass and the dark haired grumpy prince that _really_ needed to lighten up.

____

With nothing else to do, Prompto tossed the covers to the side, his dirty and partly torn clothing revealed and got out of the bed opposite to where Noctis sat with only a few stings to his lower stomach that went ignored. As soon as he was up Noctis stood abruptly from his chair.

____

“What- what do you think you’re doing? You’re hurt, you’ve gotta rest”. His face was priceless; so shocked and surprised, Prompto would’ve laughed at him if he didn’t think it would destroy the man’s pride. Plus, he did look kind of worried. So, he just smiled as the other made his way towards him and instead of forcing him back into bed he just gestured at it and gave an expectant look.

____

Prompto ignored his gesture, “dude, I’m fine, really. I've come out of an attack worse than this. Nothing hurts and you've patched me up pretty good”. He walked past Noctis, patting his shoulder as he went. “So, don’t worry ‘bout me, you’re the one who slept in a chair, if anyone needs bed rest it’s you”.

____

 

____

That wasn’t the point.

____

Prompto’s constant shrugging off concern and not following anything Noctis said was making his patience wear thin. Is asking him to go back to bed really that much to ask? Past experience or not he could’ve _died_ yesterday and injuries like that meant bed rest, no matter how many times you’ve been through it.

____

He had seen the scars, some of them anyway. While helping Luna treat Prompto’s stomach he had caught a glance of the many marks that littered his skin. And he knew there had to be more hiding under his clothes. Each one probably represented some kind of story, some kind of attack that had led his skin to carry the memory through slashes of blood and pain. Poor guy must’ve been dealing with beasts longer than Noctis had originally thought.

____

However whatever physical scars he had, Prompto’s mental health appeared pretty normal. In fact, he was an extremely energetic and happy person considering all he must've been through. It had taken Noctis by surprise when he met the ‘legendary beast hunter’ (those were the locals and occupants of the castle’s words not his) that he wasn’t a cold, old, serious man with a killer eye and a stone face. And although there were times when Prompto’s face was unreadable and maybe a bit cold or serious, especially when they first met, he usually was smiling, a pure bright smile that had no hint of sadness. And he couldn’t have been much older than Noctis himself. One thing that kept nagging at Noctis about this guy was about when they first met. Noctis was a beast, he looked exactly like one and had turned up to Prompto's village out of nowhere, everyone assumed he was a threat. So, his question was: why didn’t he kill him? He remembers asking Prompto a similar question when he had helped him back home after not slicing his neck but he never got a proper or sensical answer. Back then, he was only worried about getting home and the hunter’s reasons wasn’t his main concern. Now, it bothered him.

____

He wanted answers. Although, right now, he would settle for the man getting back into bed.

____

“You’re impossible”, he growled although there was no bite to his words and his ‘growl’ was more of an exasperated grumble.

____

“Says you, Noctis”.

____

Noctis decided to ignore his words rather than find out what the hell Prompto meant by that.

____

“Where are you even going to go?”

____

“I don’t know. Thought I might wander ‘round for a bit. I kind of wanna see more of this place before I leave”.

____

Prompto was already out of the room and heading down a random hallway. Hurriedly, Noctis strode after him and decreased his pace to match Prompto’s when he had caught up. “At least let me show you around”. And they should probably find him some clothes too. Preferably ones that weren’t torn.

____

Unexpectantly, Prompto took him up on his offer with a bright smile and just as bright eyes directed at him, “Oh really? That’d be great, thanks”.

____

Noctis took a while to answer; how does someone who was on death’s row yesterday look so damn happy? Not that he was complaining, he’d rather have Prompto smiling than hating him for what happened. He'd rather have him smiling than crying in pain.

____

“…Yeah, no problem”.

____

 

____

 

____

 

____

A door slammed open with enough force that she wouldn’t be surprised if it will never close completely again. His forceful shove of the door was like lightening and his voice was thunder. Cora watched as the man took powerful steps towards her.

____

“Where is Prompto? Tell me where he is!”, Ardyn demanded.

____

 

____

 

____

 

____

 

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp Ardyn is pissed.
> 
> Again thanks for reading and leaving comments and kudos.
> 
> HOPE YA HAVE A GOOD DAY/NIGHT LEXAX OUT
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> 


	10. Touring the castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A ginormous castle ready to be explored.  
> And a friendship ready to build.  
> And then maybe something more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya enjoy
> 
> Soz for any mistakes

 

The corridors were endless and Prompto was tremendously glad that Noctis offered to show him around; he would be so lost on his own, he’d probably never find his way back. Although, the other man definitely wasn’t one for starting conversations, they had begun their walk-in silence passing through endless hallways and neither had bothered to talk to the other – Noctis was kind of being a shit tour guide when Prompto really thought about it. He hadn’t spoke up once about what rooms they were passing or any information or history on the place. There again, they had only been walking for a few minutes and if one of them was going to speak up it would be himself. After all, he was the one that had been meaning to say something since he woke up.

“Hey, Noct…”.

For a flash of a second, Noctis’ face froze in a small surprised expression, it was gone as quick as it came and his neutral expression returned when he faced him.

“yeah?”.

Maybe it was the trick of the light.

“I wanted to say, well, I guess I should thank you”.

His eyebrow shot up slightly morphing his face into a bewildered expression, “for what?”.

“For carrying me back here”. Technically, he didn’t have to. There was no promise. No deal of if I save you, you save me too. If he had really wanted to, he could’ve just walked away. Some people would’ve done.

Prompto watched as Noctis’ confused eyes stared at him until they narrowed in irritation, “you think I could’ve just left you there?”.

This guy’s temperament was unreal; from one emotion to the other yet it wasn’t often shown truly on his face, the only way to know what he was really thinking or feeling you had to inspect his eyes. If you looked close enough, those eyes revealed a whirlwind of thoughts, secrets and moods. Many people can school their faces into blankness, making it hard to tell what was actually going on in their head but no one could control their eyes. Not even a blank faced prince who clearly tried hard to.

Still, those eyes directed at him and the harsh snap of his question caught him off guard. “That’s not- that wasn’t… well, you could’ve if you wanted to”. It was the truth, wasn’t it? “Anyway, all I’m trying to say is thank you”.

Surprisingly, the dark-haired man didn’t protest and uncertainly replied, “you’re-you’re welcome”. Although, he had to add, “But you did save me first, so I guess we’re even”.

Even, huh? _I don’t think Mr grumpy prince._ “Actually, I’ve saved you twice, so you still owe me”.

“You spared my life, that’s different from saving it”, he grumbled and huffed in annoyance but Prompto could see the tinge of amusement in his eyes.

“Is it though? Is it _really?_ I still had to drag your ass to the castle AND bandage your wounds”, he proudly stated, clearly winning this small debate.

Prompto saw Noctis visibly swallow and turn straight ahead, no longer looking at him. “yeah, well, thank you for doing that. I never got the chance to say that earlier because – “

“you were being a stubborn butthead?”.

That earned him a light laugh from the other who turned his head back to him, smiling. He genuinely felt proud he got the man to laugh and smile with him. Noctis should smile more often, it looked good on him; his face lit up in amusement and his blue eyes sparkled like the morning sky. Plus, he had a really nice laugh.

“Are you just going to keep insulting me every time I try to explain myself?”, he chuckled.

“Hmm, maybe”, Prompto teased back.

This was nice. Joking around with Noctis was weirdly nice and definitely beat the arguments or odd silence between two…whatever they were – stranger? Friends? Who knows. The jokes and teasing and little back and forth debates that had no bite and were all in good fun, Prompto enjoyed it, all of it. If he could keep the atmosphere like this, maybe spending some time with the prince wouldn’t be so bad. After all this tour might take a while.

“Now, are ya gonna show me around or what?”.

A chuckle and then Noctis was leading him through every doorway and hallway, telling him all he could and answering anything Prompto through at him.

 

Now this was a tour.

 

 

During the grand tour, Noctis offered Prompto some clothes he had found in one of the storage rooms and, luckily, they weren’t formal ones worn by royalty. They weren’t fancy but they suited him just fine; a dark red tank top and some simple black trousers and they fitted well enough that nothing was too long or loose.

After that, they spent the next hour exploring the rest of the castle, the place was even bigger than Prompto thought and, in his opinion, the rooms and hallways had no rules or plan to follow by they were all randomly placed together making a giant maze. They were careful in which rooms to explore, making sure only to enter empty ones so they didn’t bother the inhabitants of the castle. Each room was grand and could fit at least twenty people, each decoration was scattered throughout carefully and with purpose, each wall told a story filled with paintings of numerous people and the outside world.

Some stories were kept secret however. While Noctis had been chatting with him throughout their journey, telling each tale he could remember, some were clearly hard for him to say and sometimes, when he had been in the middle of a story or sentence or Prompto had asked a question, he’d just stop talking and stay in a silence trance until Prompto rapidly diverted the conversation and moved onto the next thing or room to see. Noctis little appreciative smile every time he did that told him enough.

All good things must come to an end though and they finished the tour in the entrance room where the fire was still lit and dirty floor marks, from his boots and Noctis’ paws, added a brown tone to the marbled flooring. Whilst there, Prompto discovered his satchel (that was open) with a few of his medical supplies missing. Now it made sense how they patched him up so well.

His wounds were healing nicely and the journey around the castle hadn’t strained or tired him as he thought it would. And now that he had a change of clothes, his satchel and the delivery of food had been made (and he heard it had also been transported inside) there was no other reason for him to stay. Yet strangely, part of him wanted to.

As if reading his mind, Noctis let out a timid cough and spoke with an unsure voice, his paw rubbing the back of his neck, his eyes glistening with some hope, “You know, you don’t have to go yet… I mean, you’re welcome to stay as long as you like”.

Truly, he would love to stay. This place was magnificently beautiful when you looked past the rough exterior and he felt a need to explore every part and to meet every person he was trying to help. It was something new, something mysterious, something he wanted to try and see for himself, to stay somewhere that wasn’t his home and not feel the need to be on guard for every little thing and to always be prepared for a fight. It would almost be like a holiday, a small break from the world. Reality hurts though and it sucks, because no matter how much he w _anted_ to stay he knew he couldn’t. He had responsibilities back home, people who depended on him, and if anyone got hurt again just because he wasn’t there, just because he slacked off and let everyone down. _His fault, it would be his fault_. The guilt would tear him apart.

He looked to Noctis with a disappointed heart but a smile none the less, “I wish I could dude but… I gotta get back”.

The look on Noctis’ dejected face made him wish he could take his words back all the more. “Yeah, no, I get it. You’ve got your own life to live and I- “. He sighed. “Guess I’ll see you around?”.

The prince wasn’t taking this well, if anything it looked like he was taking it quite personally. It wasn’t like this was goodbye forever, no matter how much food he brought it would eventually run out, he would have to be back to bring more. It would just be a while before he could.

“Yeah, yeah of course. When your food runs out, I’ll be back. Whenever that is”, the last part he mumbled under his breath, he wasn’t quiet enough and Noctis was bound to have heard that.

Back to being grumpy in his behaviour, Noctis turned from him and let out a short, “Your Chocobos are outside. Goodbye Prompto”.

Prompto patted the gloomy man’s shoulder before heading towards the door, his satchel in hand, a hesitant movement in his steps, his hand reached out for the handle-

“Leaving so soon?”. A female voice spoked.

His outstretched hand halted and he dropped it to his side when he turned back round to see Luna and Ignis descending down the stairs.

They approached him, walking past the still, low prince who didn’t make a move to join them and, instead, moved closer to the heat of the fireplace, simply watching the flames dance together in harmony. When they reached him, before Prompto could utter a word of thanks, Luna spoke up.

“It is sad to see you leave so soon, are you sure you don’t need more rest for your injuries?”, Luna asked, her friendly and concerned smile painted against her soft expression.

“Nah, I feel fine. The journey home ain’t that far and I promise to be careful”, he grinned.

“Well, that is good news to hear. If it isn’t too much trouble for you Prompto, would you stay a little longer? We, as a house, would like to thank you properly for your help”. She had a similar glint in her eye to Noctis, an expectant one that shined with a little hope.

“You really don’t have to- “.

“We insist”, Ignis interrupted, his calm tone cutting through Prompto’s oncoming bundle of polite excuses, “I plan to cook tonight and I promise you a fine meal served with my, and everyone else’s, thanks.”

Luna nodded, “Ignis is an excellent cook and we would be forever grateful if you would join us Prompto”.

A cooked meal did sound nice right about now, also it did serve as an excuse to stay for a little while longer. The village should be fine for a few more hours as long as he was quick and went home straight after. Plus, he couldn’t just refuse their courteous invite, not after they had let him stay the night. “As long as it’s not too much of a bother…”

“Nonsense, it's no bother at all. We would be delighted if you joined us”, Ignis replied, letting out an honest lift of his lips, looking pleased of his acceptance of dinner.

He let his satchel drop to the side and gleefully looked at his now dinner hosts.

“Ok, I guess I’m staying for a little longer then”.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Noctis whip his head round from his position by the fireplace and the same hopeful light from before shined directly aimed at him.

This could be a fun evening.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOZ for the big wait guys, it was hard for me to start this chapter but i hope u enjoyed it.
> 
> Bigger drama to come in the next chapter so be warned.
> 
> Anyways thanks for reading (now go read something good ;) )
> 
> HOPE YA HAVE A GOOD DAY/NIGHT LEXAX OUT
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> 


	11. A little longer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner is served and drama is ensured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya enjoy  
> soz for anymistakes

 

Like every other room in the castle the dining room was grand and filled with furniture and ornaments that could be worth a small fortune. Unlike the entrance room, the place was immaculate; the chandelier above the table sparkled with clear crystals, the dining room table was laid with silver forks, knives and spoons that didn’t have a single smudge on them, the ruby red and gold chairs were symmetrical next to each other, at the centre was a bouquet of red roses each one masterfully cut and placed. It was a picture-perfect room, done with care and caution of mistakes. Fit for royalty.

Prompto had a small wander around the room, looking at the masterful display, appreciating the attention to detail and the pure effort put into a normal dinner. His walk lasted a few minutes until Noctis called him over to sit down next to him. Luna was already seated opposite to them and Ignis had wandered into what Prompto guessed was the kitchen. While he was gone, to fill the silence, Luna struck up a conversation; mainly about the castle, some of its history that Noctis failed to mention and then the topic of conversation turned to Prompto himself. Questions about his life, his family, his home. Most questions he was happy to answer, like: What’s your village like? What do you like to do? Any friends? What are the locals like? Some questions about the outside world were asked too and he was more than happy to fill the two in on what had been happening recently. However, some questions he wasn’t as keen in answering. Questions about his ‘family’, parents, his job and the risks. He kept the answers simple, not going into too much detail, cracking some jokes in-between, he had never been a big fan of talking about the personal, more serious parts of his life, he’d rather just exchange jokes and keep the mood light. Parents? Never knew them. Family? He only had his adoptive father. Job? He killed for a living, what more was there to say? Risks? Plenty of them and they were always going to be there. His life story definitely wasn’t the lightest tale, he knew that, and the last thing he wanted was sympathy or sorrow because although it wasn’t light, it wasn’t bad, it was good enough for him.

Before another question could pass either Luna’s or Noctis mouth, the door they had entered through opened and Gladio and Iris walked through – one looked much more pleased to be there than the other.

Gladio took one glance at them all and directed Iris to sit to the right of Luna while he took he chair to the right of Iris. His posture was tense and his gaze sharp; defensive and a bit irritated. Awkwardly, he kept his mouth shut and crossed his arms, his unpleasant gaze focused on Noctis. This was getting uncomfortable and if someone didn’t say something soon Prompto feared it would be like this for this whole meal, for the rest of his visit.

“You’re Prompto, right?”, a cheery voice spoke up. Prompto looked to Iris who smiled back at him, her eyes friendlier even with the yellow tint in them, the colour reminded him of wolves’ eyes. “I’m Iris!”.

“Yeah, that’s me. Nice to meet ya Iris”, he smiled at her; part grateful for the conversation, part just plain happy that she seemed like a nice, kind girl that didn’t have a face like someone had a shit on their shoes like Gladio did as he continued to silently stare in his and Noctis’ generally direction.

She must’ve noticed his eyes flicker to Gladio, “Ignore my brother. Gladdy is just being grumpy and a bad host”, she ignored her brother’s cold stare and continued, not sparing him a glance, smart girl, “So, when’s the food coming?”.

“Right now,”, sounded Ignis from the doorway as he and several others walked in and placed plates of food in front of everyone. After all the food was delivered, one plate for each diner, the other kitchen staff left and Ignis joined them at the table to the left of Luna. Taking a look down at his food, Prompto almost drooled. _Oh, wow._

They weren’t kidding when they said Ignis was an excellent cook, just from the look alone the food appeared delicious and the smell was intoxicating. On his plate was a succulent looking piece of beef served with vegetables and heavenly looking gravy. It enticed him to have a taste and after he did, he wished Ignis was his own personal chef or he had a life supply of his food. Either way would work.

The food settled the atmosphere a little, Gladio was too busy with eating to continue his stares and with Ignis back at the table a conversation about how the food was prepared was started, along with several compliments from all members of the table. Everything was cooked perfectly and tasted fantastic, its taste didn’t disappoint the expectations the look gave.

Although one member of the party appeared to disagree. Next to him, Prompto watched Noctis push all of his vegetables to the side of his plate staring at them in disgust. It was funny, the look on his face and his hatred of vegetables, of all things, was priceless and made himself let out a low chuckle at the other’s struggle. Noctis glared at him while he just raised an eyebrow and smirked back, angry glare or not, it was still funny. The others were too busy in their own conversation to notice this little exchange.

“Having some trouble there, Noct?”.

“Shut up”, Noctis mumbled back as the pushed another piece of carrot to the side. “I don’t like vegetables”.

“You’re telling me dude”, Prompto chuckled, “You’re looking at them like they’re the worst thing you’ve ever seen in your life”.

“They are”.

Prompto laughed and Noctis, though he tried to hide it, cracked a smile too.

Dinner finished with no problems, all plates were empty except Noctis’ pile of vegetables much to Ignis’ dismay, which he showed through his look of disapproval. No one left the table yet as the plates were taken away from the same people who delivered them. They were replaced with tea and coffee, distributed to everyone depending on their preferences.

Prompto’s own cup was placed in front of him and he took a small sniff at it. _Gods, even the tea smells great._  

Alone again, Prompto figured it was the best time to speak up, “Thanks for the meal Ignis, that was the greatest thing I’ve ever eaten!”.

“Thank you Prompto, I’m glad you enjoyed it”, he replied with a curt nod, “Although, I should thank you for the ingredients, I couldn’t have made such a complex dish without them”.

A sharp, displeased, sarcastic voice cut in, “Yeah, we’re all s _o_ grateful for your help”, Gladio scoffed, his words were pleasant, his voice was not.

All eyes directed themselves to Gladio who had barely said a word since he sat down. “At least, we can rely on _someone_ around here to do a basic task of getting us food”. His words were venom and Prompto had a pretty good idea who they were trying to inject.

Out of the corner of his eye, Prompto saw Noctis’ paw tremble. He turned to the others and watched every face on the table turn from one of joy and content to mixed emotions of angry and upset. He saw Iris look at her brother with some fear and sadness, her eyes begging him not to continue, he saw Luna’s face morph into a concerned and worried mixture, Ignis eyebrow’s furrowed as he sent a solid glare over to Gladio. Try as he might, Prompto couldn’t catch Noctis’ expression since his head was bowed but his paws were clenched and still trembling.

“Gladio, don’t”, Ignis warned.

“Don’t what, Ignis? Don’t say what we’ve all been thinking for years!?”, Gladio spat, “You abandoned us Noctis! My own little sister is cursed because of you, because of your lack of a backbone!”

Noctis whole body shook now, and Prompto swore he saw a sliver of water run down the prince’s cheek. The words had hit him hard, each syllable a knife to his gut and to his heart. No one spoke, no one knew what to say. Gladio’s words hung in the room and the tension they brought made Prompto feel unbelievably uncomfortable and a little pissed off. On second thought, no, they made him _really_ pissed off. Those words weren’t necessary, _none_ of that was necessary. Perhaps he didn’t know the whole story or see the big picture and perhaps he shouldn’t intervene since he only learned what happened less than 24 hours ago. But he was going to anyway.

“It’s not like it was his fault”, Prompto turned to a furious Gladio and returned the stare he got for his words.

“Excuse me?! Stay out of this kid! This- “.

“No!”, Prompto cut him off, he stood from his chair, his anger flowing through his voice and his narrowed eyes, “I won’t just sit here and listen to you blame a four-year-old for the fate of an entire kingdom- “.

“He was a prince!”

“He was a boy!”

That shut him up. Both men’s chest heaved, they continued to glare at each other until Gladio snarled, letting his sharp fangs show before storming out of the room. The door was slammed behind him with a loud BANG! And the sound echoed through the silent room. Now he was gone, Prompto relaxed his face into a more neutral expression and returned to his chair after calming his breath.

Noctis shuffled and raised his head, his trembling halted, he stared at him with shocked, damp eyes. One by one, pairs of wide eyes turned to him. Abashed by the stares he was now receiving from everyone, Prompto fiddled with the table cloth not meeting one set of eyes. G _reat, I’ve made everything worse, well fucking done me._

“Sorry about that”, he regretfully muttered.

“Don’t apologise”.

Prompto paused his hands and turned to Noctis, a grateful face with a small smile looked back at him. “You stood up for me, I- thanks Prom”.

“Yes, Gladio’s behaviour was unacceptable. Good thing you interfered, Prompto”, Ignis added. “We can only apologise for his actions and hope it didn’t spoil the whole evening for you”.

“I -I, I don’t, I- “, Prompto stumbled.

“Let’s not dwell on it. I, for one, have had a wonderful evening and your company has been delightful Prompto, we’re glad you stayed a little longer”, Luna interjected his ramblings, a smile on her lips and a softness to her words.

“Yeah, yeah, um, thanks for dinner and everything. Sorry I yelled before, that didn’t help…anything”, he muttered the final words, shame coating them.

“Don’t be”, Iris stated, “Gladdy was being vile to Noctis, and he didn’t deserve any of it. I’m glad you said something”. Her sorry eyes looked to Noctis, “Sorry I didn’t stop him Noct”.

“Yes Noctis, we should’ve stopped Gladio. He does not speak for us, I hope you know that”, Luna agreed.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s fine”.

 _It wasn’t fine, none of that was fine._ Prompto kept his thoughts to himself, he had said enough for one night.  

Time was ticking and if he wanted to get back before the sky filled with black, then he would have to leave soon. It would’ve been nice to leave on a positive note but he couldn’t stay any longer and wait for the fun, loving atmosphere to come back.

He said he would stay for dinner and he had.

He had to go.

“I have to go”.

Noctis disappointed eyes caught his, “already?”.

“Sorry buddy but its going to get dark soon and I need to go back home”, Prompto smiled sadly at him.

Noctis’ mouth opened and shut tight, no words or sound leaving it.

“Noctis, could you show Prompto out while Ignis, Iris and I help clear up the table?”, Luna asked.

Noctis nodded and stood from his chair, he stepped to the door, waiting for Prompto to follow him and then walked with him out of the doorway into the large hall.

 

Same scenario, different time.

Prompto stood next to the entrance door, his satchel in hand, and Noctis stood in front of him waiting for him to turn around and leave. Somehow, it felt harder this time. Prolonging his leaving didn’t make it any easier, this whole day had made him fall in love with this place bit by bit and although his time here had been far from perfect, he wanted more. More time exploring the castle, less time rushing through his home streets, more time in appreciating the beauty of the place while learning its stories, less time hearing the screams of his town villagers when a beast attacked, more time with everyone here, less time with the people who only appreciated him when he killed something, more time hanging out with Noctis, less time in a lonely house listening to nothing but his own breathing.

Was it so much to ask for him to be free a little longer?

 

 

 

 

   

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELP IS PROMPTO GONNA GO AND LEAVE THE CASTLE FOR GOOD?
> 
> I DONT ACTUALLY KNO YET, ILL HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT
> 
> hope ya have all enjoyed tho and to the commenters, the kudos leavers and the silent readers, i thank u for giving this story a shot and reading this far
> 
> BTW if ya have any questions or suggestions plz do comment them or ask me on ma tumblr, Tank u
> 
> congrats to u and goodnight/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT 
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> 


	12. Goodbyes and battles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time has ran out and Prompto needs to leave.  
> A large threat approaches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya enjoy  
> soz for any mistakes

 

Prompto never liked goodbyes.

Every goodbye felt like the last even when it wasn’t. Ardyn leaving town when he was little, returning early next morning. Cindy’s holiday out of town that lasted for two months, those were some of the loneliest months he had ever experienced. He had been invited to go with her, they both knew he couldn’t. He didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to his parents, they left before he could utter a word, their leaving hurt all the same. And now Noctis. Except this time, he was the one saying goodbye.

Stiff silence and an awkward handshake, the touch of skins lasting way longer than needed, neither wanted to let go. Yet, eventually, Prompto did and stepped back from Noctis. Blue eyes followed his movements with a destroyed, upset gaze that tore into Prompto’s heart. His look was devastating, Prompto smiled at him anyway because just like all of his other goodbyes; he could never let them see him cry.

“I’ll see you around”, he copied Noctis’ words from before, he couldn’t promise them, no one could. He wouldn’t lie to him, it wouldn’t make this any easier.

“yeah”.

The words felt sour to his ears; they were nothing more than a lost whisper, hiding and burying any true thoughts or feelings deep inside. It was empty.

This was his fault, those hurt eyes were because of him. He should’ve just dumped the food and left, instead he had made this messy; complicated. They could have departed as strangers, kept it as a slight hate to one another, and both could’ve moved on with their lives. Prompto making food deliveries when necessary and Noctis peacefully staying in his castle, the worries of starvation wiped from his mind. But then, today would’ve never existed. He would’ve never gotten the chance to relax, to explore, to experience something new.

He would’ve never had the chance to get to know Noctis. Even if it was only for a short while. _Just say goodbye and go. Don’t make this any harder._

He did anyway. His logical mind wanted him to turn around, open the door and leave; clean, easy, simple. He didn’t want that. So, he strode up to Noctis and wrapped his arms around his waist, his chin resting on the other’s shoulder. He felt Noctis froze underneath him. “I’m gonna miss you buddy”.

Slowly, the tension underneath him subdued and warm arms clung to his shoulders, careful not to get his claws near Prompto’s skin. “Yeah, me too”.

It felt nice and that made it harder to back away again. The warmth was addicting and Prompto would’ve stayed there all day if he could.

Once he let the warmth leave him, he flashed a sad smile before turning away and didn’t look back.

 

 

As soon as he reached town, Prompto scoured the land while he rode home, looking for any signs of attacks or violence; there were none. The journey home was uneventful, it was late enough that there were a lack of people and not late enough for him to be cautious of being strike from the dark, he reached his house without difficulty and returned the Chocobos back to the stables. After they were all set up with food, water and blankets, he headed inside; hoping Ardyn to be there so he wouldn’t be alone tonight, and at the same time hoping he wasn’t so that he wouldn’t have to deal with the questions that would come with the auburn-haired man presence.

His now scrubby boots shuffled across the hallway; if Ardyn was home there was no point in trying to be quiet, he would hear him anyway and Prompto was too tired to care or attempt it. He kicked his boots off and made his way into the living room where the fire stood cold but the clear figure in the one comfy, large, cream chair that was present in the whole room evidently didn’t notice the lack of light or warmth.

Ardyn sat still, his focus on reading the book in front of him; its red cover with gold lettering depicting a language that Prompto didn’t recognise. A bookmark was placed in the following page and the book was place on the coffee table before Ardyn acknowledge him. “Finally, back? Where have you been these past two days?”.

“Sorry, I should’ve said before I left. Cindy needed help with the bakery and it took way longer than I thought it would. So, I stayed the night at her place and then stuck around for the rest of the day.”, he lied skilfully; not breaking eye contact, a smile to his lips, a guilty look of forgetfulness but not of deceit. He hoped Cindy would go along with it and he _really_ hoped she wouldn’t be dragged too far into this. If he got caught, he didn’t want her tangled into the fall with him.

“And the new clothes?”.

 _Shit, forgot about that._ “Cindy brought me some after I kind of wrecked my other clothes”

“Well then, no worries Prompto, next time just leave me a note so I know where you are”, Ardyn calmly responded, no anger or passive aggressiveness to his voice. “Now, its getting late, I’ll be heading off to bed”.

“Goodnight”.

“Goodnight dear Prompto”.

Footsteps could be heard ascending the stairs and then a gentle clicking noise as Ardyn closed his bedroom door. After the click was sounded, Prompto let out a heavy sigh. Lying to Ardyn was hard, if he ever found out the words leaving Prompto’s mouth were deceitful and foul he would be so hurt. But he’ll be just as upset if Prompto just outs the truth, so he’s got to take the risk. He let himself relax, the tension from his muscles slowly leaving him as he took deep breaths and calmed his mind of what if’s.

Tiredly, he sunk into a wooden chair by the dead fireplace. He kept silent and rested his aching feet and swore wounds. That was another thing he had to keep from Ardyn.

Rumours about the fight would’ve already spread out, which meant that Ardyn would be aware that only _one_ beast came to the village. And after all the years of training, of observing him perform multiple hunts, there was no doubt that Ardyn would know that one beast would never cause him that much trouble, that many injuries. No matter how difficult it was. He would have to keep track of how visible they were in some of his outfits, good thing Noctis gave him a change of clothes when he was at the castle.

 _Noctis._ He wondered what the prince would be doing at the moment; did he miss him? Had he and Gladio talked it out? Or had he simply ventured to bed without another word to anyone? Funny, how that one name crossed his mind just once and then he can’t stop thinking about him, about all of them. It was nice having those memories of the castle (the ones that didn’t involve him and Noctis arguing or being attacked, because those weren’t the best), although they also offered a sting. A reminder that he was back to reality now, his little trip was over and he wouldn’t need to return for a while, they won’t _need_ him for a while.

That was it, wasn’t it? He was never wanted, only needed and once people had gotten what they desired out of him they left his life one way or another. Only to ever come back when they needed more. Although, he supposed, they had wanted him to stay even after he made the delivery.

That had to count for something, right?

Heaving, familiar footsteps could be heard from the hallway, so it came to no surprise when Ardyn stepped through the doorway.

“Prompto! I forgot to mention”, he started, his previous easy-going expression turning into a sterner and more serious face of warning. “I found your sword earlier today, it’s in your room, try to take better care of it; they aren’t cheap. Also, keep it with you tomorrow and be careful. I’ve received reports from an eastern village, the one closest to ours, apparently large groups of beasts have been roaming the forest. And they are all heading north to us so they should miss us but be cautious if you go near the forest, do you understand?”.

More beasts? Great, that’s exactly what he needed right now. Another thing to keep track of, what happens if they don’t go north? If they change directions and head straight for the village, its going to be a bloodbath. He didn’t even _know_ there were villages near them, never mind that they could contact them, showed how much he went out. Just a few hours ago, he didn’t have to worry about the beasts outside or any incoming threats, he could enjoy himself with some really friendly people (most of them) and not have an irritating voice in the back of his head, warning him that everything could go to shit in seconds. He hopes they just keep going north and miss the village completely, no one went north anyway, it was a barren wasteland with…

Wait, north?

As in the same direction, the same place where a hidden castle stood beyond the empty land that no one ever discovered because no one ever wanted to venture that far into the darker parts of the forest. _That_ north?

_Oh, for fu-_

“Right, got it”.  


Next morning, he was out of bed, dressed, grabbing his weapons and yelling some excuse to Ardyn about continuing to help Cindy in a total of five minutes, making sure he promised to keep an eye out for beasts and help out if any reports come in about the wave of beasts.

Out of the door, he tacked up one of his Chocobos in record time and sent it speeding in the direction of the outskirts of town. If anyone yelled after him, he didn’t hear it; the wind deafening him as it rushed past his ears. He couldn’t go as fast as he wanted to until he was out of town, otherwise he would be endangering the early birds of the town, he wasn’t going to trust his driving abilities to dodge all of those people at that speed. However, when the coast was clear, he urged his bird to run as quick as it could, its large, yellow feathers flowing while its two orange claws scampered along the black sludge of the forest floor.

No signs of anything yet, no destruction or large imprints in the ground but Prompto wasn’t going to let the hope get to him yet. He still had a way to go. He had to hurry, he had to warn them. The surprise attack would completely throw off any defences the castle may have and they had no way of knowing what was coming. Plus, this forest was huge and surrounded the castle, they could attack from any angle so even if he didn’t see them didn’t mean they weren’t coming.

Unfortunly, the more open the forest got, the more evidence started to appear. Snapped twigs, _could just be some foxes,_ clawed trees, _hopefully a bear,_ and finally a group of mashed together footprints. Any hope of him getting there before they did left him then. They were in front of him, they could already be there and if they were, how much could the castle take? How much could they fight off?

More destruction followed in the forest, if that what they did to trees, what could they do to the castle? These beasts were clearly violent, classic beasts; destroying everything insight even insignificant things to them like trees. Ardyn wasn’t exaggerating when he said a large group, the footprints completely covered the open space of the empty forest floor, the further he travelled the more appeared.

He was almost there, so close. Yet, one thing was for sure, they were already there. _Please, don’t let me be too late._

Fire could be seen in the distance; the idiotic beasts must’ve destroyed the lanterns inside and outside the castle to cause a blaze of that proportion, it would take some time to destroy the whole castle but it was spreading wall to wall and if it wasn’t focused on it would take over. That wasn’t the biggest problem though, which is why no one had bothered to extinguish it. The gardens had been torn apart. There was nothing left of the flowers apart from the dead, shredded petals on the floor, the trampled bushes were now buried dead into the ground, paw marks on top of them.

Further ahead stood the beasts and a herd of desperate people. Few were outside, biting, scratching and drawing their weapons on the oncoming beasts, most were barricading the castle doors keeping the younger and more fragile citizens inside. Amongst those outside; Prompto recognised four of them: Gladio; his fangs burying themselves into any beasts close by while he swung a broad sword on their heads, Ignis; tearing the beast’s neck open with his sharp claws and darting around them to kill with his daggers, Luna; her white dress drenched in blood and mud as she gracefully struck beast by beast down with her spear. And finally, Noctis; who had forgotten about resting his wounds in favour of violently striking the beasts with his blade, his movements were slower than they should be. The first three were grouped together, fighting off the beasts with support at their backs. Noctis, however, was separated from them, whether it was done intentionally by himself or whether he had accidently lost track of his position was unknown. With only a small number of unprepared fighters, the winner of this war was obvious.

Unless someone intervened.

Prompto only managed to reach the centre of the garden when his Chocobo started to freak, not that he could blame it. He leapt from the saddle and gathered his weapons, sheathing his knives and taking hold of his rediscovered sword. He charged to the fight.

On his way he cut down any beasts that he could reach, he moved to where Noctis and a large group of beasts around him stood and sliced through the crowd to reach his friend.

Upon noticing his presence next to him, Noctis’ eyes showed some surprise but didn’t stay on him for long as another set of beasts continued their onslaught. In less than a second, they were both back to fighting; Noctis cut down the one near his throat while Prompto stopped another from tearing the prince’s leg by striking down into its back. With Noctis attacking them to the right and Prompto now covering him to the left, the death toll was increasing quicker and the castle grounds were finally being cleared of alive beasts.

There were _a lot_ of them, too many to count or comprehend, so, instead of thinking their numbers Prompto thought of each attack, each dodge and move of defence and kept his mind focused on keeping himself and everyone else alive. Slice to the neck, dead, a warning to Noctis, impaling one in its head, one more gone, Noctis shouting his name to signal a double strike together on a larger beast, another down.

Eventually, he and Noctis had wiped out enough beasts to get to the others. They hadn’t stopped their onslaught and were all still standing, and now that two more joined them, not one beast got close enough to take them down. Ragged breaths, aching bones, shaking knees, they pushed through the numbers and when Prompto had stabbed the final one in the heart, he almost collapsed from exhaustion and relief.

A battle done and a war won. There had been casualties but not as many as a fight like that usually caused, in fact most people were still standing, others were only injured, he had yet to see a confirmed dead. They had won and only one problem stood in front of them now.

A fire consuming many peoples’ homes and a wreckage that would take some time to repair.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY, HEY, HEY, I MANAGED TO MAKE ANOTHER ONE - GO ME!
> 
> Hope everyone is having fun reading this 
> 
> see u in the next chapter where i have more of an idea of where to take the story
> 
>  
> 
> BTW if ya have any questions or suggestions plz do comment them or ask me on ma tumblr, Tank u
> 
> goodnight/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT 
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> 


	13. Warm nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crisis over, everyone is safe.  
> Prompto is invited to stay over once more

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope ya enjoy  
> soz for any mistakes

 

Destruction everywhere; the size was astronomical. Large pieces of the castle formed piles of rubble making the original ground non-existent. Powerful fires above, that was attempting to be extinguished by the same people who were sealing the castle doors and now wore gas masks and protective clothing to shield them from the flames, it was working, slowly. Grey smoke covered the sky and their surroundings, the dense amount filling Prompto’s lungs; it was making breathing a challenging task.

A deep cough escaped Prompto’s attempts to calm his breathing and his rapidly beating heart, they would have to get rid of that fire before it caused any permeant damage to the people at the mercy of the smoke and flames. Around him, everyone was hacking and wheezing through the smoke that burned their lungs and blocked their arteries. Noctis’ cough was the loudest next to him, his arched back and uneven breathing displayed his painful attempts to breath, the man was struggling to get any oxygen at all. Not wanting the prince to collapse, Prompto grabbed Noctis’ arm while covering his own mouth with his other hand and lead him away from the castle and into what remained the of the dead gardens.

It didn’t take any persuasion to get Noctis moving and when the others saw them stumbling away, they quickly realised Prompto’s plan and followed suit. Everyone outside the castle and everyone inside who wasn’t helping with the fire scurried after them; moving their legs as far as they would go, coughing all the way.

No ones coughing seized until they reached the very edge of the garden where the forest began, and the path ended. Gradually, Prompto felt his airways clear and he could breath almost regularly. With some joy, he saw Noctis also take much needed deep breaths and his erratic coughs stopped along with everyone else. Thank the gods. Men, woman, children, all haggard but breathing, they were all breathing.

With the new supply of oxygen, Prompto let himself sigh in relief; they were alive, they were all ok.

“…P-Prompto?”. Noctis was standing straight now, his words scratchy from his coughing fit. He was looking at him as if to question his existence like that whole battle where he had stepped in to help hadn’t happen and he couldn’t believe he was here.

“Hey… I said I’d see you soon, didn’t I?”.

Noctis laughed, “yeah, yeah you did”.

They smiled at each other. Amongst the chaos, the remains of the battle and the beasts, the panic and the near-death experience, both felt just a little lighter at seeing the other after all of this, a little warmth in both chests, a small light in both eyes.

 

Successful in their mission, the remaining residences of the castle joined them outside, the fire was now gone, and the smoke started to clear. Cheers of joy and accomplishment for them erupted from the crowd as the fire extinguishers’ families and friends ran to greet them with teared relief. With everyone safe and the worst part of it over, families embraced while partners shared a tender kiss and children laughed as they were crushed with hugs from their loving parents. It was a beautiful, pure sight that Prompto would never forget, nor would he ever wish to.

Suddenly, a hand was placed on his shoulder and he turned to seen Noctis gazing at him with open eyes and a fanged grin. “You just couldn’t stay away, huh?”, he teased, releasing the blonde’s shoulder.

“Guess not, lucky for you”.

“You’ve really got to stop risking your life to save our asses all the time”, Noctis eyes narrowed jestingly, his face taking the form of mock irritation, “now you’re just showing off”.

Prompto snickered at him, “But then, who would be your knight in shining armour? Plus, you know you’d miss me”.

Noctis crossed his arms and raise an eyebrow at him, pushing his claim aside, “pfft, in your dreams blondie”.

The jokes and good times shared couldn’t last forever though. Reality once again made itself known and rain started to descend from the sky, soaking the residents below immediately upon contact. Outside, in the garden, there was no shelter or cover from the parade of rain that was falling heavily, the only building they could use was a slightly burnt, heavily broken castle. Following the crowd, Prompto grabbed his earlier spooked chocobo who had been hiding behind one of the thicker forest trees, then he and Noctis walked together to the towering fortress; it was damaged, but it wasn’t about to fall apart or come down, so, for now, it would do. A walking crowd soon turned into a running one when the clouds completely opened, and lightning struck the sky above, causing a wild flash, blinding them temporarily then striking again. A melody of heavy rain and quick lightning played together, the sequence of sounds scaring the people. Especially the children, their screams adding to the chaotic music around them.

Luckily, after they had gotten inside, the children were quickly calmed down and tranquillity returned once the castle doors were closed and locked.

Soaked and miserable, Luna urged all to return to their rooms; to start a fire in their fireplaces and to replace all wet clothing that would be dealt with in the morning. Those whose rooms were in bad condition were instructed to talk to Ignis who would allocate them to share a better room with a willing family where they could retire to bed in peace and safety.

“Please try to sleep as best you can tonight. We shall discuss today’s events tomorrow.”, Luna decided, her soft gaze somehow calming the shaking of the residents. They had all had one hell of a night but even though their clothes clung to their bodies and the freezing water ran down any exposed skin, they stayed and listened until she was finished. “I want to thank you all for all your efforts and hard work tonight. We couldn’t have accomplished what we did without you all. Now, please, retire to your beds, I shall see you all in the morning”, she concluded.

Soon enough, the room was empty with only Noctis, Luna and Prompto himself left. Gladio had seen Iris to bed and Ignis was dealing with a family whose room had been partly crushed by rubble. All other residences, Prompto assumed, went to bed to try to sleep through this terrible night. Too bad the castle’s walls weren’t thick enough to halt all sound from the outside weather.

His chocobo whined in protest of all the loud bangs and bright flashes that shined through the tall, glass windows. Prompto gripped his reigns firmer, calming the bird by gently patting his damp, yellow neck. Poor thing must be scared to death; first the beasts, now this awful weather. There was no way he could force his chocobo to ride through this, it would only harm him.

“You always seem to turn up when we need you, dear Prompto. We offer you our deepest thanks again for all your help”, she thanked him, taking in his drenched state and his shaking, terrified chocobo. “I don’t think it would be a good idea for you return home while the weather is…like this”. She gestured to the window where a clear view of the pouring rain could be seen, and another flash of lightning sounded out. “For you, like always, our previous offer stands, and you can stay however long you like.”.

Of course, she was right, he wished she wasn’t, but the weather outside wasn’t giving him any choice tonight. To solidify his decision, another loud bang sounded from outside; it made his blood run cold just thinking of trying to travel out there. “I’ll have to take you up on that offer Luna. I gotta feeling my chocobo doesn’t want to go outside right now”, he agreed and, as if to sound his own opinion on the matter, his chocobo let out a soft ‘kweh’ and shook his head, causing small droplets of water to splatter against the three.

“It appears your chocobo agrees”, Luna chuckled, a smooth sound that was a complete opposite to the chaos outside. “We don’t have spare rooms but your welcome to share with one of the families or we could set you up in here?”.

“The couch will be fine Luna”, he replied then paused before asking, “is it ok for my chocobo to stay with me?”

“That’s perfectly fine Prompto. I can’t let the poor thing sleep outside in this”, she smiled, reached over and slowly patted his bird, who let out a sound similar to a purr at the attention. “I’ll go get some blankets and clean, dry clothes for you”.

Noctis stopped her, “I’ll go get those Luna, you go to bed”, he yawned, his voice tired but firm.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to- “.

“You’ve done enough, I think I can handle getting some blankets”.

Prompto nodded in agreement, “Yeah, we’ve got this.”.

“Well, if you’re both sure then I shall see you two in the morning. Goodnight”.

Luna’s tired state slowly made her way up the stairs and down the hallway to her room. Her eyes had been darker than they should’ve been and showed she was in dire need of some sleep. Like someone else next to him, those bleary blue eyes tried to focus on him when a yawn erupt from the prince’s mouth.

“Looks like someone is tired, huh buddy?”.

“Need sleep”, he groaned back, not bothering to stop the next yawn, “Come with me”.

“Where are we going?”.

“You can sleep in my room with me. I’m not- “, another yawn interrupted him, “I’m not going to let you sleep on the couch, it may look comfy but, believe me, it’s not”.

A bed did sound comfier than a couch, and if Noctis was offering who was he to turn him down? “What about my chocobo?”, got to have his priorities sorted first though.

Noctis waved him off, “Just bring him with you. My room’s big enough for him too”.

With no reason not to, Prompto accepted Noctis’ offer.

“Alright, lead the way”.

 

Last time he was in Noctis’ room, Prompto never properly appreciated how big it was. He wasn’t kidding when he said there was room for his chocobo. You could probably fit twenty Chocobos comfily in here and could still squeeze in a few more, even with all the fancy furniture. He set his Chocobo on the floor next to the bed and grabbed a blanket draped on one of the chairs, then, he set it on top of the chocobo who happily curled into himself under the comfort of the blanket. Considering he was on the floor, the chocobo looked unbelievably comfy.

Prompto gave the bird a final pet, then left him to sleep. He turned to the enormous bed, its white silk covers tempting him to just flop onto top of it, except he was still in his wet clothes and he would prefer not to sleep in a damp bed from his own clumsiness. Instead of making that little mistake that sounded more appealing the more he remembered how much his limbs ached and how tired he was, he walked away from the bed to where Noctis was standing in front of his wardrobe, which was a deep black, with beautiful white markings of tree branches and flowers covering it.

“Here”.  Noctis passed him two sets of clothing from the wardrobe; one simple, white, long sleeved shirt and a pair of cotton, grey trousers. “You can change in the bathroom, if you want, there’s towels in there too”. The tired prince pointed in the directions of a black door to the right of the wardrobe.

Tired himself, Prompto hummed a small “thanks”, and went inside the en suite, locking the door behind him.

Peeling the wet clothes off him, Prompto stripped himself of all his clothes, excluding his mainly dry underwear and bandages, and used one of the white towels hanging on the walls to dry himself off. The towel was fluffy and soft and soon dried him of all water on his body. Then he used it on his hair, getting most of the water there too. After he was completely dry, he tried on Noctis’ supply of clothes. The shirt, in his opinion, was a bit much for sleep wear and was a little tight around the arm areas, plus, it felt uncomfortable with his bandages underneath. On a brighter note, the trousers were very cosy and fit well. So, he lost the shirt and kept the trousers; it wasn’t like it was a chilly night anyway, he didn’t need the shirt.

He grabbed the unwanted shirt and ventured into the bedroom to see Noctis sitting on his bed with a new change of clothes that were _definitely_ too much for sleep wear; he wore at least three layers on his top half and thick dark trousers on his bottom.

“Do you usually wear that much to bed?”.

Noctis jumped at his question, he hadn’t notice him until he spoke up. He looked at Prompto, his eyes betraying his slight feel of surprise then he looked away, shrugging off his question, “do you usually wear that little?”.

“I asked first”, Prompto countered and made his way over to the bed where he sat next to Noctis, “it just seems to be a bit much to wear for sleeping”.

Noctis shifted uncomfortably, his shoulders hunched over, “I just didn’t – I didn’t think you’d want to- it’s just so you don’t have to… _see_ me, to see that much of what I look like…now”.

“You’re rambling, buddy”, Prompto interjected.

Noctis tsked and stared hard at the floor, his eyebrows drawn, “I didn’t think you’d be comfortable with sleeping near me when I’m… not covered up”.

 _Oh, ohhh._ Now he got it. The whole curse thing must’ve be a bit of a downer to someone’s self-image. Prompto understood it, he truly did. He wished he didn’t understand so well. Scars are scars though, and they can affect anyone and everyone.

“That’s what this is about? How you look?”, Noctis’ shoulders dropped further in response, his head stayed lower, “You don’t need to be shy around me buddy, I think you look fine”.

“Don’t lie to me”, Noctis hissed, “I know what I look like, your lies don’t make me feel any better”.

Prompto kept his voice shushed and level, no point in reverting to them shouting at each other again, he placed his hand on Noctis’ shoulder in reassurance, “I’m not lying, I wouldn’t lie to you. You – you think I’m going to be disgusted? Afraid? I’m not, I swear it.”, he sighed and moved his rested hand up and down the prince’s arm, “You were cursed Noctis, you didn’t deserve it, it wasn’t your fault, but it happened and I’m sorry that it did but… it won’t change how I view you, what I think about you”.

Hesitantly, Noctis head rose, his dejected and annoyed expression turned to one of curiosity, “Yeah? And what would that be? What do you think of me?”, he asked, his voice wavering on uncertainty and doubt.

“I think you’re a cool dude. I think you sometimes lose your temper, but you never mean to hurt people. I think you’re a selfless person who blames themselves for what happened to this place.”, Prompto smiled at him, a warm, kind smile that shined through, “I think you’re a really brave person for coming back to save your friends and family, no matter what cost you would have to pay. That’s what I think.”.

Stunned in silence, Prompto carefully watched Noctis; his sharp eyes widened, and his mouth gaped, revealing his small fangs. They sat there for a small while like that; Prompto gave him all the time he needed to recompose himself and shut his mouth.

Noctis chuckled, a little awkwardly, “you’re such a nerd”.

“And you need to get better sleeping wear”, Prompto laughed before a grin overtook his soft expression, making him look more playful, “now, strip”.

“I think this is just an excuse to see me naked”, Noctis teased.

“Maybe it is”.

Prompto watched in delight as Noctis face blushed red; his cheeks burning up dramatically and his slightly furry ears tinging with red too. Then, Noctis stood, his face still working away his redness, and started to take off some of his top layers while he made his way to the en suite. A few minutes passed, eventually, Prompto heard the click of the door opening, revealing Noctis; a white shirt, similar to the one he gave Prompto, was still worn as were the pair of black trousers but he had removed the jacket and second shirt he was wearing before.

“Happy now?”.

Underneath all the clothing, Noctis form looked less bulky and hidden; his build was similar to Prompto’s own in size, his arms a little smaller than the blonde’s, his body looked tense, conscious of his lack of clothing.

“Kind of”

“Kind of?”, Noctis repeated.

“I mean, personally, I’m still wearing less than you”.

“Not my problem”, Noctis huffed. He shuffled over to the bed and laid down on the opposite side of where Prompto was sitting. His eyes were clearly struggling to stay open, but he kept them as wide as he could and stared openly at Prompto, specifically, Prompto’s back. He looked in deep concentration as he carefully studied every inch of him, and bit his lip in hesitation, “…the scars, do they… where are they all from?”.

“Beasts”, Prompto answered simply, Noctis’ gaze was making him more self-conscious than he would’ve liked, it reminded him of his teenage years, “Different hunts, different beasts, different mistakes”.

“All of them are from the beasts?”.

“Well”, Prompto paused, maybe he shouldn’t tell him this, “not one or two of them”.

Noctis shifted himself into a sitting position, his eyes never leaving the scars, “where are they from then?”.

Memories best kept in the dark, secrets he would rather keep to himself. Yet, would it be so bad to share with one other person? To have someone know something he had never told anyone. He knew plenty of Noctis’ past; he had intruded in their home and they had shared their tale, what they had all been through was much worse than what he could have ever imagined, much worse than his own past, and they had still shared. He had no reason not to.

Still, no point in making this easy, “I’ll tell you, but only if you do something for me”, he wanted to have some fun first.

“What is it?”, suspicious eyes narrowed at him.

What did he want? This might be a once in a lifetime opportunity, he had his past stories as a bribery for anything he wanted Noctis to do. His options were limited if he wanted Noctis to do something in the room, they were both too tired to go anywhere else, and the prince’s sleepy eyes meant it couldn’t be anything that involved a lot of movement. Not much came to mind; although, if Noctis was curious about his scars, there was one thing he was curious about…

“Take off your shirt”.

A random request and, if Noctis’ face was anything to go by, an unexpected weird one at that. His face reminded Prompto of a confused child in math class when they had been asleep for half of the lesson. If Noctis had been tired before, he was wide awake now.

“I – why would- what the hell- I… ugh, fine”.

His curiosity about the scars must be getting the best of him for him to willingly do this, without any protest or argument. Blushing, Noctis look down at his shirt, thinking, then he slowly reached down.

And as much as Prompto wanted to see, he couldn’t let himself be the reason Noctis had such a questioning look on his face, like he was battling every thought in his head. “Hey, wait”, he latched his hand on the other’s arm, “Never mind. I change my mind. You don’t have to do this, I’ll tell you anyway”.

Relief washed over Noctis face and it stayed there for up to five seconds, then the stubbornness came flooding back, “No”, he refused, determined in his words.

And he quickly teared his way through the buttons of the shirt and threw it to the end of the bed.

Like he expected, Noctis’ chest and arms were covered in black fur; it was short and well kept and none of his skin was visible. Prompto let his eyes wonder over every inch of Noctis’ body like the prince had done to him earlier, somewhere in that time, Noctis had wrapped his arms around his stomach and had hunched his shoulders, trying to make himself as small as possible. Carefully, Prompto placed his hand on Noctis’ back and let it slide up and down, amongst the prince’s fur. It was unbelievably smooth and silky, it didn’t feel like an animal’s fur or a bird’s feathers. It was just nice. Under his easy touch, Prompto felt Noctis’ back steadily loosen up, his breath evening out as he relaxed a little. He still hadn’t looked at him or removed his arms. At least he wasn’t running away.

“The scars”, Prompto started, Noctis had kept up his end, it was his turn now. “When I first starting out hunting, I was probably around six or seven, I made _a lot_ of mistakes and the scars… were my punishment for it”.

Noctis head rose and his arms faltered from around his chest, looking at him in shocked disbelief.

Prompto smiled sadly at him, “Every time I missed, that was one strike of the hand, every time I got hurt, the belt was used, and every time I let one get away…well, that meant a strike from the sword”. He could feel tears gather at the edges of his eyes, he didn’t let them fall, “lucky for me that I stopped making mistakes around ten”.

Sympathy. Ardyn had never gave any and he never told anyone else, so they couldn’t give it him either. Yet, that was all Noctis showed him; sympathy, sorrow. Anger too, not at him but at the pain, at the scars, at the story. Prompto wondered what was going in Noctis’ head, what he was thinking about it all, what he thought of him, of the scars, what was making all those emotions whiz and switch in his eyes.

Prompto was still stroking Noctis’ back, more for his own comfort than for the prince’s anymore, the silky fur weaving in between his fingers offering tranquillity, offering a sense of ease.

“Who did it?”, Noctis’ words had a harsh edge to them; an anger that was trying to seep out, they had a kindness to them also, a tone of concern, “Who hurt you?”.

“It’s not important. It was a long time ago”.

“Like hell it is!”, Noctis snarled. He stopped, realising the harshness of his tone and who he was directing it to; someone who didn’t deserve it. “Sorry”, he murmured.

“That’s ok”, he yawned, the day’s events finally getting to him. His eyes begging to be closed. “Lets just drop it, ok?”.

“Yeah, ok”, Noctis mumbled reluctantly in agreement.

Finally, Prompto stopped his movements in Noctis fur and let the other man lie down underneath the cosy, thick covers of the bed, Prompto soon joined him. Temptation of burying himself in the sheets and drifting into a blissful sleep was strong, he could still feel Noctis awake beside him. The dark-haired man had shifted himself to the edge of the bed, far away from Prompto as possible, and had curled himself into a ball on his side. Prompto tried not to take it too personally. He shortened the gap by shuffling next to the prince until he could feel Noctis’ heat radiating from his body.

“You know, the bed is big enough that you don’t have to lie half hanging off of it”.

Noctis let out a ‘hmm’ but said nothing else and didn’t move from his position.

In the darkness, Prompto listened to Noctis’ breathing as it slowly deepened into sleep, his own slumber nowhere near him, despite how worn out he felt. He laid on his back and moved his hand towards Noctis’ back until he felt soft fur in his grasp. It was nice; knowing someone else was in the room, that someone else was in the house (or in this case, castle) with you, that you weren’t sleeping alone. It felt warm.

And that warmth is what helped him drift to sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up: firstly, im going on holiday soon where i wont have my laptop so i'll either write chapters in advance and add them while im there or ill write some on my phone/ in my notepad and edit them and add them when i get back
> 
> Also im editing quite a few of my chapters in the fic- dont worry, the story wont change, im just going to adjust some of the way i have written stuff so it dosent sound like a 5 years old writing, cause i have read some of my first chapters (which i've never done before) and damnnnnn they need some improvements  
> Like i said, no changes to the story so ya dont have to reread anything
> 
> Thanks all for reading, quite a long one this is to make up for the fact im late for posting.
> 
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> 


	14. Bright mornings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new day, a new problem to solve.  
> Noctis awoke to a bright shining morning, only to realise how warm he felt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya enjoy  
> Soz for any mistakes

 

Noctis awoke to a lovely warmth around his waist and underneath him, his bed was more solid than usual, and felt like it was…moving? Blinking, he forced his vision to clear and rose his head to see a bare, bandaged chest, moving up and down, and the silent, relaxed sleeping face of Prompto.

Noctis almost scrambled away, the heavy set of arms around his waist paused him, he must’ve made himself comfortable on top of Prompto in the night, his head and hands had found their way to rest on his chest while his legs had tangled with Prompto’s. Afterwards, Prompto’s arms must’ve encircled around his waist, practically cuddling him in the night without either of them knowing.

The man underneath hadn’t stirred, his peaceful state stayed undisturbed by Noctis’ movements. His eyes were securely shut, his mouth agape only a little, taking in a breath every few seconds, his hair was tousled, so that it was no longer spiked up, instead it laid flat against his forehead, almost covering his eyes. Completely deep in sleep with no idea that Noctis was right above him, watching him.

Noctis’ initial plan to leap away from the man became less and less likely the longer he stared, the thought was no longer present in his mind. He could fall back asleep, lie back down in the comfort of Prompto’s arms, pretend he never woke and let the blonde deal with their position when he stirred. Yet, his eyes wouldn’t let him go back to his sweet slumber. They didn’t move from Prompto’s face. Entranced, he found himself admiring the other’s long eyelashes that framed his eyes perfectly and counting his many freckles that were scattered along his nose and cheeks. He felt more content than he had for a long time, his mind didn’t race with thoughts of tomorrow or what to do next, he was happy living in the moment. He didn’t want to move, which created a problem for when Prompto wakes and notices him. What would he say? ‘Sorry for lying on top of you in the night, waking up, and instead of moving from this odd position, like a normal person would, I watched you sleep’. He would look like a complete freak. _You already do._ Seeing Noctis lying so close to him would only freak Prompto out when he woke up, who would want to see a _thing_ like him so close, so close that he was touching. He examined his filthy, disgusting paws pressed against Prompto’s toned, normal chest and felt like scratching the fur from his skin. _I don’t want to be this. This isn’t me, this isn’t me._

He clenched his paws, unknowingly scraping Prompto’s chest.

The blonde awoke with a start, a small yelp escaping his lips as his eyes shot open. Realising what he’d done, Noctis rapidly removed his claws, his paws moved to rest on either side of Prompto, regret instantly filling him. Frozen, he stayed in place, watching Prompto blink open his startled eyes and turn them to him. Initial confusion soaked Prompto’s features, his eyes wondered around the room until they came back to Noctis, his scratched stomach, the scratches narrowly missed his bandages, and the interesting position they were in.

“Um… hey”, Prompto spoke, a little unsure.

“…Hey”.

“So…”, Prompto cleared his throat, some red tinged his cheeks. Although, it was nothing compared to how hot Noctis own face felt. “How did we… end up like this?”.

“…Dunno”, Noctis mumbled back. This was really fucking embarrassing. “I’m, uh, sorry about… scratching you and stuff…”.

“Oh! It’s, uh, no problem”. Prompto chuckled awkwardly. “Did something happen? Or… bad dream? Y’know… to make _those_ come out”, he asked. His finger tapping the end of one of Noctis’ claws. He didn’t seem hurt or offended and the tone was nowhere near accusing.

“Just some… bad thoughts, is all”, he admitted. He could’ve lied, he should’ve lied, because now Prompto was looking at him with sympathy. And the last thing he wanted was to be questioned about it.

For some reason, Prompto didn’t ask him anything. “Yeah, ok. I get it.”

A few stiff minutes passed, both looking at anything other than each other and only glanced back when they thought the other wasn’t looking. Yet neither made a move to get up or to detached themselves from the other. And, weirdly, Noctis felt the awkwardness of it all was slowly withdrawing out of the room. After the hectic events of yesterday, this, these few moments were a state of calm, of peace. The rare moments where nothing was happening, and nothing needed to happen.

Noctis arms were starting to get tired, lifting part of his weight this long was wearing on them, and the rest of him felt drained too. If he had enough energy in him, maybe he would’ve questioned his actions or at least second guess them. But neither had moved and Noctis was too exhausted to care about anything other than getting back to sleep. Which meant getting into a comfier position that didn’t make his arms feel like jelly. Carefully, to not irritate Prompto's wounds, he placed his paws back on Prompto’s chest and laid his head down on top of them. Prompto tensed for a second, then relaxed. Surprisingly, instead of pushing him anyway, Prompto grabbed the lowered duvet and covered them with it, then his arms returned to their previous place, under the duvet, wrapped around Noctis’ waist.

They laid there, silent, the only thing Noctis could hear was their breathing. He wanted to sleep, he was so _damn_ tired, but his mind didn’t shut up. The fuzzy feeling of his arms under his head didn’t help anything. He wanted to close his eyes, to escape. He wanted to pretend to be human again, to be able to be free and wonder outside of the castle grounds without fear of being hunted by those that could’ve once been part of his kingdom. He wanted to walk through the streets again, to approach people without them screaming in fear. He wanted his friends, everyone loyal in this castle, to be with him, to be able to be free… But they can’t.

All because of a disease.

A disease called Noctis Lucis Caelum.

 _He_ had caused this, _he_ was the reason they were all trapped. Gladio had been right, if he wasn’t such a coward, none of it would’ve happened. Maybe, just maybe, if he had started to help when he was younger, if he had taken to learning some of the kingdoms rulings when he had the chance. Maybe, his father would’ve still been alive. Inside, Noctis knew that was a stupid thought. His father had died when he had only been four, there was no way for him to help at that age, to truly understand at that age, no matter how much teaching he had. _But you could’ve saved the others._

 _I think you’re a really brave person for coming back to save your friends and family._ Lies. All of it damned lies! He wasn’t brave, he didn’t s _ave_ anyone!

The building up of water in his eyes, slowly fell as tears; dampening his arm under him. He tried to stop a broken sob escaping him, but a choke sounded from his dry lips.

“Noct?”

Noctis stayed silent, he kept his head down. The arms around his waist tightened, then a hand came up to the back of his head and fingers caressed through his hair.

“Sssh, sssh, it’s alright. Everything’s ok”, Prompto whispered softly, his chin resting on top of Noctis head.

The touch helped. It helped him return to the present, to the room in front of him and way from the images in his head. His mind started to clear as his breathing slowed and the tears stopped. It didn’t stop everything though, it didn’t stop the very edge of his mind from yelling what he knew: _You’re nothing but a beast_.

The worst part was it was completely true; he was what he looked like, he deserved the stares, the hate from Gladio, the lost hope from his people, the fear from the villagers. He deserved being injured by that villager and he deserved what fate Prompto could’ve delivered to him.

So, why didn’t he action the final blow?

Why was he still alive?

 _Why… “_ Why… why didn’t – “, He swallowed and breathed deeply, “why didn’t you kill me?”.

The hand in his hair paused, he heard Prompto swallow above him. “Why do you… why are you asking that now? I told you before I – “.

“You never gave a proper answer”.

“…Okay”, Prompto breathed, a second passed, then two, then three. “When I- when I first saw you, I thought you were just another common day beast, an easy kill that I could get over with and return home. But…But you weren’t… you weren’t the same. As soon as I- I got close enough, I saw you weren’t like the beasts, the way your body was structured like the human form, it made me paused. But it didn’t stop me. Not until…”, Prompto stopped and Noctis lifted his head to look at him, the man was gazing at a corner of the room, lost in his own little world.

“Until?”, Noctis asked, his voice almost normal again.

Prompto moved his eyes away from the corner and set his sight on Noctis, “Not until I lifted your face and saw your eyes”. Prompto looked away again. “I – I was always taught that beasts were soulless, empty with no emotion or feeling. But your eyes Noct, they were so bright, so filled with life, they showed so much. Once I saw them, I knew- I knew I couldn’t do it. Because you’re – you’re not a beast Noct. You’re a person. And if I had actually… _killed_ you that day then I – I…”.

Prompto’s voice broke as tears made their way down his cheeks, it was the first time Noctis had seen him cry and he _prayed_ it would be the last, the sight almost made his own eyes water up again.

“I’m so sorry Noct. I – I promise – I promise you, if I- if I had known about the curse. I – I would’ve never, ever try to- to hurt you”.

“Hey, hey it’s ok”, Noctis soothed, “you didn’t know Prom. And you didn’t hurt me anyway, even when I look like…this”.

Harshly, Prompto wiped the tears from his face, finally able to face Noctis once more. His eyes were a bit puffy and red, he cracked a smile. “Dunno what you see in the mirror but, you look kinda cute to me dude”.

... 

_Oh._

“Well, um… thanks? I guess?”, Noctis croaked out, he was definitely red now; his face felt on fire.

Prompto’s eyes widened before his face also turned a shade of red, and Noctis suddenly found his wall was more interesting than anything else in the room and needed to be examined. Not that he was purposefully avoiding Prompto’s eyes, _no_ , that’d be ridiculous and childish and… exactly what he was doing. Maybe, he should move…

A loud knock sounded at the door, startling the two men; both jumped in surprise and snapped their heads in the direction of the door.

“Noctis? Noctis, are you awake?”, Ignis cool voice could be heard from the other side. Noctis prayed he wouldn’t open the door.

“Y-Yeah! Yeah, I’m awake Ignis!”.

A small pause, then, “That is a surprise… Anyway, Luna had called for a meeting in the foyer, please join us as soon as you’re dressed”.

“Yeah! No problem! I’ll be right down”.

“I’ll leave you to it then”.

Silence, it stretched on long enough that Noctis thought the bespectacled man should’ve left.

“Oh! Also, Noctis, you haven’t seen Prompto anywhere, have you? He’s not in the foyer and it doesn’t look like he has slept on any of the sofas.”

 _Crap._ He had two options here: tell Ignis the truth and _hope_ he wouldn’t take it the wrong way or lie and try and come up with an excuse of where Prompto stayed the night. But, Noctis was never a very good liar and excuses never came easy to him.

“He’s- he’s in here… with me”.

Silence. Except, this time, it felt more painful and longer than ever. The tension in the room was unbearable, it was strong enough that Noctis wondered if he should’ve just kept his mouth shut.

“Ah, I see. I’ll see you both down there then”.

And with that, Ignis left. His footsteps getting quieter and quieter the further he was from the door.

Noctis let out a breath. That wasn’t so bad. It was better than Ignis walking in on them, the way they were lying couldn’t have helped their situation any. It wasn’t like they were doing anything bad, anyway. There was a lack of beds and Noctis didn’t want Prompto to suffer on those uncomfortable sofas. That was it. How close they ended up together in the night was… just an accident. They were both fast asleep, there was nothing they could’ve done about it.

The fact that they both woke up but didn’t move away from each other didn’t mean anything.

“Guess we should get up, huh?”. Prompto broke him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, guess so”.

Noctis untangled himself from Prompto and they both moved to get changed.

 

 

Down in the foyer, things were loud and hectic.

The destruction and the attack had left people terrified and in need of reassurance, of guarantees. They wanted answers, they wanted solutions, they wanted their home back to how it was, they wanted _this_ to never happen again. But, no one had the spirit to lie to them.

“People, _please._ If you could settle down, then maybe we could all- “. Luna’s voice tried to simmer the shouts, but the people only got louder. Each demanding their voice to be heard, not realising their shouts were the reason no one could be.

Noctis walked beside Prompto down the crowded stairs, across to the entrance door where Luna, Gladio and Ignis were standing. Noctis noticed, as they made there way there, that the crowd did seem to be settling down. He could hear the shouts around him quieten as soon as he and Prompto walked past them. Almost like they were only shutting up because they saw them.

As they got closer and closer to the others, until eventually they reached the door, he realised his observation was correct and his mind wasn’t just playing tricks on him. Because as soon as he and Prompto were visible to everyone in that room. Everyone shut up. And he didn’t know why, until he heard a small whisper to the left of the crowd.

“The hunter is here”.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOZ FOR THE LATE UPDATE.  
> i've been so focused on improving previous chapters, i hadnt had chance to write a new one. I kinda needed to reread ma work anyway, not just for corrections, but to refresh ma mind of whats happened so far and where i should take it.  
> Like i said before, holiday soon, and idk if i'll be able to upload next week so the week after i'll try to do two chapters but it depends on how well i can write on holiday ;)
> 
> The improvements r done if anyone wants to reread this shit from the beginning without cringing too much at the bad writing ;)
> 
> Also i plan to be more careful with how i write, chapter might take longer to write but i'll still try to upload at least one every week. I also plan on reading them on ma phone before uploading as this helps me find mistakes or just badness in ma work.
> 
> Thanks for reading (the rambling notes and the story :D)  
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> 


	15. Carrying you up the stairs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damages needed to be repaired.  
> And a lot of stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya enjoy  
> Soz for any mistakes

 

_“The hunter is here”._

Prompto almost cringed at the words. A title he once cherished, now seeming more than an insult than a praise or compliment by the people. He faced the crowd, ready for the looks of fear and disgust. But there were none. Instead, admiration and joy decorated their faces. Not one frown or widened eyes, only smiles and hope. With some individuals turning to the person next to them, excitedly whispering something unintelligible in their ears. Other than the faint whispers, it was dead quiet compared to before he had entered the room.

The silence hadn’t been frozen fear, like he’d initially assumed, it had to have been shocked awe. Similar to the villagers’ reactions of his return home after killing his first family of beasts. A small chill ran down his spine at the memory.

“What’s going on?”. He heard Noctis quietly ask beside him.

“A meeting, one that was turning into a disaster before you two turned up”, Luna answered, her voice sounded appreciative and her eyes remained on the calmer crowd.

“Why are they all staring at me?”, Prompto whispered his question, aware of the many eyes directly on him.

“It appears you have earned their respect Prompto and, in turn, their requested silence to listen”, Ignis replied coolly.

“Thank you for turning up, both of you. Now, we can begin this properly”, Luna said, gratefully, before turning her entire attention to the patiently waiting people in front of them. She straightened her back, her head raised high and she begun to speak loud, clear and with authority that only a confident, experienced speaker could project. “Now that we have your attention, we can discuss yesterday's attack. I know you are all scared, upset and angry about recent events, but we must work this out, and we can only do that together”.

Her speech was long, but her words were like gospel to everyone’s ears, each inhabitant of the castle leaned in and listened with honest interest, taking in her every word. She once again thanked every man, woman and child in helping to defend their home. Stating people’s courage and strength in all actions of help: the firemen/ women, the barricaders, the fighters, those that kept themselves and everyone else safe inside the castle’s walls.

Afterwards, she moved on to the damage reports that she, Ignis and Gladio had gathered earlier that morning. It was only a guess, but construction should be completed in around three weeks if they started now. This estimate would only be accurate if majority of the inhabitants volunteer. They would need a fair few builders and designers, and a large number of people would be needed just to carry the construction supplies from the cellar. Any and all help was welcome from anyone who would offer it.

“Builders, or those of similar craft or skill, please consult Ignis. Gatherers of the supplies are to go to Gladio. And designers or anyone with knowledge of architecture, or even if you just have some ideas about the castle’s rebuilding, are to talk to Iris”. Luna pointed to the left edge of the crowd, where Iris stood waving to the faces that turned to her, while her bright yellow eyes examined the crowd. After everyone took note of Iris’ position and returned back to Luna, the blonde continued. “Any questions should go to me. I know this is tough on you all. Please do not feel forced to volunteer now or ever. But, we shall accept and appreciate all help that is offered”, she concluded.

Mummers sounded along the crowd, luckily, they didn’t turn to shouts or arguments. Prompto didn’t think he could settle down another riot of voices just by walking out of the room and back in again.

Eventually, once the mummers subsided, the crowd followed the others into their respective area. Ignis had moved to the right of the room with his portion of people while Gladio had ventured to the back, beside the stairs. Iris had waited where she was.

Most of the residents, as far as Prompto could see, had joined either Ignis, Gladio or Iris in moving to separate rooms, presumedly to discuss jobs and a plan of action. Those left over (young children and elders mainly), ascended back up the stairs peacefully, most likely heading to their rooms to rest off the lasting exhaustion from yesterday.

Only a few stragglers, Noctis, Luna and himself remained. The left-over crowd were probably waiting for a chance to speak to Luna about his whole ordeal. They were patient though and respectfully waited for her to come to them rather than rush over.

“Noctis, could you help with the construction of the top floor, where the fire took place”, Luna asked kindly, turning to Noctis and Prompto next to her.

“Yeah, course”.

She nodded. “Good. I imagine a few from Ignis’ group will join you, once they are done with their discussion”.

“What can I do to help?”, Prompto interjected, hoping to be of some use. Although, the only things he had managed to assemble was his bedroom furniture, and that was years ago.

Owlishly, she blinked at him, “… I assumed – do you not need to get back home? To your village?”.

_Yes._ Disappearing from the village once was a bad enough idea, making it a frequent occurrence would only worsen things. By now, Prompto suspected, Ardyn would’ve gathered something was wrong. Just because he was never home, didn’t mean he was oblivious. It’s not like he could tell the truth either, he would be putting everyone in the castle at risk. And using Cindy as an excuse wouldn’t work a second time. What if an attack happened while he was gone? There again, the storm last night should’ve made the beasts run for cover too, slowing down any chance of an attack. Some may have even been killed by the storm.

This was stupid. And he should really start listening more to the logic of his mind rather than his heart. But, this, every damage part, every broken soul, was his fault. He should’ve been quicker, acted sooner, found out what was going on himself and stop it. But he hadn’t. He hadn’t been good enough.

“I – I want to help. If I can”, he added hastily, the familiar words rolled off his tongue.

Luna’s gaze softened, “Well, if you wish to help, then you can- “.

“Come help me”, Noctis interrupted, his smile warm when he turned to look at Prompto, who returned it.

“Sure, dude”, he agreed, grateful for the chance to help out, to make up for what he failed. But before he could ask Noctis to lead the way, a large, yellow bird entered his mind. “But, first I gotta check on my chocobo”.

Luna raised an eyebrow at him, “He’s still inside?”, she questioned.

A loud ‘Kweh!’ answered her question.

 

Prompto bid Noct and Luna farewell, promising to join the prince in the dining room once he was done taking care of the bird. He hastily ventured upstairs and into Noctis’ room.

Upon entering, he gently urged his chocobo to stand and follow him out of the room, back downstairs and outside. He tied the bird to a post near the castle’s entrance, then Prompto searched for his cart that was left behind in the rain yesterday.

He discovered the poor thing near the forest edge, inside the garden. It was still drenched through, its roof was soaked and dripping, but it had done its job of keeping the inside dry. Somehow, the cart was still standing, and its wheels could still turn. Prompto managed to pull it to sit beside his chocobo, despite the heavy weight and the feel of wet wood underneath his hands.

He gave his bird some greens and water, that Luna had kindly left for him, it let out a ‘kweh’ of delight before digging in. With his bird fed and his cart safe, Prompto overlooked the two and took a step in the direction of the castle’s doors. Until, a flash of leather partly hidden in the front of his cart caught his attention.

Curious, he stepped back to the cart and explored the front seats. Next to the driver seat, his satchel lay, soaked to the bone and teared in places. He would have to get a new one. There was no way the bag would be able to carry anything securely again and he doubted it could ever be fully repaired. It was a shame really, it was his favourite bag. He grabbed it and dug his hand inside. Luckily, the water hadn’t leaked through, not completely anyway and the insides of the bag were mainly dry. He pulled his slightly damp first aid box out of the satchel, his hand brushing against something else while he did it. Confused, he dug his hand back in and took hold of a solid item, that revealed itself to be a wrapped box with a bow on top.

In the light, he recognised it instantly. Cindy’s present. He couldn’t believe he had forgotten it. All this time, it had been waiting in his satchel and Prompto hadn’t even had the chance to opened it. Nothing was stopping him now though. He untied the bow first, then he peeled away the wrapping paper to reveal a plain, black box. He lifted the lid off and within the box was a beautiful bracelet.

It was mainly made of brown leather with silver markings of waves and leaves and a sliver clasp. Even without knowing much about it, the craftmanship was admirable, the amount of time and effort that must’ve gone into making it was clear, each stitch and decorated line was filled with purpose. _How much would something like this cost?_

He must thank Cindy later.

He took the bracelet out of the confinements of the box and secured it on his right wrist. Memories of he and Cindy playing together as children flowed through his head as he stared at the generous gift, those times had always been the better parts of his childhood; a time he was free without a care in the world. He missed every second of it. The feeling those memories left was bittersweet

After taking a few more seconds to admire the bracelet glinting in the sunlight, he grabbed his first aid box, the now empty box, the wrapping paper and bow and placed them under the cover of the cart’s roof, protected from any future weather incidents. He left the satchel on the seat, it wasn’t going to get any worse than it already was no matter the weather. Then, he headed back into the castle and made his way to the dining room.

 

Noctis greeted him once he stepped through the dining room door, explaining that this room was the quickest way of getting to the top of the castle.

The other man led Prompto through the door to the adjacent room: the kitchen, where another door hid in the corner that revealed a long staircase that seemed to go to the very top of the castle.

_That’s… a lot of stairs._

“Unfortunly, this is the only way up”, Noctis sighed, “it’s gonna take a while”.

Prompto looked away from the staircase to Noctis. Smirking, he challenged, “Race you to the top?”.

Noctis appeared to mull it over, before smiling back, “You’re on, blondie”.

They began their race by speeding off into a run, their legs sprinting side by side, both trying to get ahead of the other.

A quarter way up the stairs, and it appeared as though Noctis regretted his decision immensely.

The man was crawling a few levels behind Prompto, panting and trembling with each movement. Seeing his competition struggling, Prompto had slowed from a fast sprint to a dragged walk. He was panting lightly, and his legs ached, but he was in much better condition than Noct.

“Having a bit of trouble back there, buddy?”, he teased, tossing his head behind him to watch Noctis’ grumbling form.

“Shut… shut your damn- damn mouth”, Noctis growled back, managing to get back on his two paws. “How- how are you not… out- out of breath?”.

Prompto shrugged, “Running was part of the training, dude. Although, I gotta say, stairs are _much_ harder than flat ground or sand”.

“No shit”.

Because he was a gentleman, Prompto stopped walking and waited for his friend to catch up. Eventually, the dark-haired prince did, although he didn’t look appreciative that Prompto had stopped for him. They stayed quiet for a few moments, the only thing Prompto could hear was their combined pants and steps.

“…Do you want a piggyback?”, Prompto asked, his tone an obvious tease.

“No!”.

 

 

When they had finally reached the top, Prompto felt like his lungs were going to collapse.

Stupidly, after regaining their energy three quarters of the way up, Noctis challenged him to a second race and, before Prompto could respond, the bastard took off, leaving Prompto to sprint after him. There had been no winner, they both reached the top at the same time, dying on the inside and the outside.

Still… “I- I won”, Prompto panted.

“Nuh…uh, no- no way…we finished to-together”.

“You…you had a head start”, Prompto argued back.

“You would’ve – you would’ve lost anyway”, Noctis countered.

Too winded to talk back, Prompto childishly stuck out his tongue at the prince and began to walk away from him.

“H-hey!”, Noctis shouted breathlessly after him, “You don’t know the way!”.

Prompto heard the prince scamper after him and watched Noctis catch up… again. Side by side, they walked through a dark, empty hallway. Ahead, Prompto could see a set of stairs that led to a singular door.

_Great, more stairs._

It was the only door in sight and, since the hallway was short and straight, Prompto doubted there was anywhere else to go. Next to him, Noctis let out a groan of frustration, he was probably just as annoyed as Prompto was with the extra stairs.

“Please, tell me this is the last set of stairs?”, Prompto asked, although it sounded more like a plea. He sent a silent prayer to whatever god controls stairs. The great stair god.

“As far as I know”, Noctis grumbled back, another tired, frustrated groan sounded from his lips. “I’m not going to be able to get up those stairs. I’ll probably die halfway through”, Noctis shrugged through his dramatics. “Or maybe I’ll just die right now, right here, so I don’t have to attempt them”.

Despite his own familiar feelings of reluctance toward the idea of moving up _more_ stairs, Prompto chuckled at Noctis’ moaning and groaning. “My offer still stands of carrying you dude”, he joked.

Noctis sounded a ‘hmph’ of disbelief, “yeah, right. You couldn’t carry me if you tried”, he said with certainty.

“That a challenge?”. He wasn’t going to, not really. But, after Noctis’ response, now he wanted to. He wanted to knock that all knowing, cocky smirk off Noctis’ face.

And he was never one to refuse a challenge.

Even an unintended one.

“Pfft, sure, whatever you want. Now let’s- H- HEY!”.

Whatever Noctis was about to say was cut off when Prompto swiftly and smoothly took hold of Noctis’ side with his left hand and placed his right arm under Noctis’ knees and scooped the prince up.

Noctis’ expression was funnier than anything Prompto could’ve hoped for. It was an odd combination of shocked and mortified; his blue eyes blown open and his lips parted, his entire face bright red. Completely frozen in place.

The initial shock seemed to dissipate and Noctis spluttered out a chorus of protests, while wriggling in Prompto’s grasp.

“You- You can’t just – What do you- Why did you- How did- “, he attempted before ending his splutters with a: “Put. Me. Down.”

“ _Noct_ comfy, your highness?”, Prompto teased. He smirked at the annoyed look he got from Noctis.

“Not funny”, Noctis bite back, “Put me down”.

Prompto pretended to contemplate it, “Hmm… nope”. He smiled and walked, with a grumpy Noctis still in his arms, towards the stairs.

“Prompto! Put me down! You made your point, let me go!”.

Noctis’ continued protests went unheard as Prompto climbed the stairs. It was easier than he thought it was going to be, Noctis was much lighter than Prompto expected and fitted comfortably in his arms.

After passing the halfway point, Noctis must’ve realised his words were pointless and grudgingly let himself be carried. His arms wrapped themselves around Prompto’s neck and his head rested on the blonde’s shoulders, positioning it so his curled horns weren't digging in. Even with the annoyed look on his face, the prince looked quite comfy as far as Prompto could tell.

As soon as they reached the top, Prompto gently lowered Noctis to the ground, who scampered away from him, his face still red.

“See? That wasn’t so hard”, Prompto said, stretching his arms behind his head. Surprisingly, he found himself having a sudden burst of energy, despite the extra stairs.

“…shut up”, Noctis sulked, the red on his face slowly disappearing.

“Ah, come one! Did you _Noct_ have fun?”.

A smile escaped the prince’s irritated expression, he turned his head to try to hide it but not before Prompto caught a glance at it. “Again, with that joke”, though he tried to sound exasperated, amusement slipped through his voice. “Come on, we do actually have work to do”.

Noctis opened the door in front of them and stepped through, Prompto followed closely behind.

“Want me to carry you?”.

“Don’t you dare!”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK FROM HOLIDAY  
> I KNOW I SAID I WOULD TRY TO DO TWO CHAPTERS TO MAKE UP FOR THE WAIT BUT THAT DIDNT WORK OUT SO HERES A LONGER CHAPTER INSTEAD  
> I HAD TO TYPE THIS UP FROM MA NOTEBOOK AND EDIT IT AND IT PROB BAD SO IM SORRY  
> HOPEFULLY THE "QUALITY" WILL RETURN... if it ever existed in the first place
> 
> Now i'm back things will go back to normal, with one chapter per week (most of the time)
> 
> thanks for sticking with me and reading this and stuff  
> ...  
> yup
> 
> anyway 
> 
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> 


	16. A deal with the devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ardyn needed answers.  
> And Cora is more than willing to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope ya enjoy  
> soz for any mistakes

 

_Before…_

_A door slammed open with enough force that she wouldn’t be surprised if it will never close completely again. His forceful shove of the door was like lightening and his voice was thunder. Cora watched as the man took powerful steps towards her._

_“Where is Prompto? Tell me where he is!”, Ardyn demanded._

“How the hell should I know?”, Cora shrugged him off, undisturbed, and continued her task of sharpening her nails. “He always dismisses me the moment he sees me. Men these days don’t know what good thing is in front of them”, she sighed dramatically.

Face scrunched up in irritation, he marched closer to her, determined to get answers and definitely not in the mood to play games, “w _hen w_ as the last time you saw _him_?”.

“Two days ago. He was running around trying to find some groceries he left behind”, she frowned, “I tried to suggest that we could both look together, he didn’t even give me a second thought”.

Another sigh and Cora turned her head from him, looking like she was in a daze while mumbling something along the lines of: ‘he’s lucky he’s hot, dumb idiot’.

Ardyn didn’t have time for the girl's daydreaming about a love story that was _never_ going to happen, not as long as Prompto had his own freewill. Speaking of which, the damn boy seems to think he’s got the freedom to choose where he was going and when he was coming back, without a note or a word of warning. That spoilt brat.

He hadn't seen Prompto all day. If the boy was in the village, then he was doing a good job of hiding from him. It wasn't like him to not be home by dark. And if he had ventured away, then he was risking the lives of all the villagers. The beasts were unpredictable and brutal, destroying whatever, whenever. There was no proper way to command them or control them, since they had the brain power of a piece of wood.

Ardyn sighed internally, _I really should’ve thought of that before I made them._

_Oh well, mistakes were inevitably in a time of war._

Still, he had solved the problem, he had fixed his mistake. He had trained a perfect killing machine that was right under his thumb. That would do whatever he wanted without question. That had stopped beasts’ attacks all these years, so that innocent villagers wouldn’t have to suffer. And then, that killing machine had to wander off somewhere.

Prompto better get back soon.

“You haven’t seen him since then?”, Ardyn confirmed.

Cora looked back at him like he was the most boring thing she had ever seen, “No, I haven’t. You happy now?”.

Ardyn growled in frustration. The girl was useless. And what really pissed him off was the fact that he didn't know where Prompto was. Maybe he was still in the village, and had simply lost track of time, it was possible. But Prompto had always come back, he had never stayed away for longer than a day and he had never stayed the night anywhere else. Never. All the facts evident that Prompto wasn't in the village, he had gone off somewhere. In all these years, Prompto had never left the village, there was nowhere for him to go, everything he needed was here. So, why the disappearing act now? It was a bit late for teenage rebellion and Ardyn couldn’t think of any reason why Prompto wouldn’t want to be in the village. Where had that sneaky rat gone? 

...Ah.

Maybe the girl could be useful.

He cleared his thought, “if I recall correctly, Miss Woodsworth, you have been chasing after Prompto for quite some time now”.

She rolled her eyes, “I don’t give up easily, dear. He’ll be mine eventually”.

He smirked, this was too perfect, “what if I could help you with that?”.

She paused, placing her nail file to the side, her eyes glistening with intrigue. “And how would you do that?”.

“Let’s get straight to the point, shall we? No matter how long you chase him, Prompto will never choose to love you.”, he paused, letting the girl take in his words, “But, what if he didn’t have a choice?”.

Her eyes narrowed, more suspicious than offended by his words, “how?”.

He leaned in close to her sitting state, his eyes level with hers, “I could be able to persuade him, I think. If I tell him to be with you, that’s exactly what he’ll do”. Like good little puppets should.

It took a few seconds for her response; her eyes still narrowed, her face giving nothing away. “…what’s the catch?”.

She was smarter than he gave her credit for. “No catch, not really. I simply want to make a deal. You do something for me, I do something for you, it’s that simple”.

Her vulgar mind must’ve jumped to the wrong conclusion, her face took on a look of disgust before settling into a curious but mindful countenance, “What would you have me do?”.

“Follow him. No questions asked. Just, when I tell you, follow Prompto wherever he goes and report back to me”. He withdrew his face from hers. “Do that and I’ll arrange a perfect few dates for you two, that should last, oh I don’t know, for the rest of his life?”.  

Her face lit up. He’d caught her, another valuable tool to use for his purposes. People are so predictable.

“Follow him? That’s it?”.

“And only for one day as well, then he’s yours”.

With all the grace of a bull dancing in heels, she stood from her chair and stepped to him. “Sounds like a pretty good deal to me”.

He held out his hand. “Deal?”.

Without hesitation, she took hold. “Deal”.

Ardyn left her house with a satisfied grin on his face.

Now, he had some thinking to do.

_That night…_

Ardyn sat in his chair, the only comfy one in the house, and silently continued to read his book. The night was getting late and Prompto still hadn’t returned, but it didn’t matter. He was content on waiting. And if the boy didn’t return? Well, he’d just have to find a new toy.

It would be a hassle finding a replacement, waiting long enough for the village to think he was mourning him and then actually finding a child and wasting his years to raise them and make them a perfect replacement. No, it would take too long. Plus, he could never guarantee that a replacement child would be as good as Prompto. It would be too big of a risk, and he couldn’t take the chance, not when he was so close to winning, to getting what he wanted. To putting an end to the years of torment and mourning. He could put their souls to rest after so many years of waiting. He’d get the revenge they deserved. As soon as he got that bratty prince’s head.

The front door opened, he heard tired footsteps enter the hall and pretended to be invested in his book. Prompto wasn’t trying to be sneaky or silent, that was for sure, he heard boots being kicked off and sluggish feet enter the living room. Then they stopped.

Ardyn waited a few moments, still staring at the book where the words had become nothing but blurs. Then, he replaced the bookmark inside it before speaking. “Finally, back? Where have you been these past two days?”.

He made sure to sound as calm as possible. His voice edging on a concerned father but not overbearingly. He wanted Prompto to think he didn’t care, to think that he could go wherever and that he was only concerned for his safety.

“Sorry, I should’ve said before I left. Cindy needed help with the bakery and it took way longer than I thought it would. So, I stayed the night at her place and then stuck around for the rest of the day.”

It sounded plausible. He remembered this Cindy character well. Prompto and the girl had been close for a very long time. If it was a lie, it was told well, even the body language and the facial expression were a perfect fit for Prompto’s excuse. But, he could just be a good liar.

“And the new clothes?”.

“Cindy brought me some after I kind of wrecked my other clothes”.

“Well then, no worries Prompto, next time just leave me a note, so I know where you are. Now, it’s getting late, I’ll be heading off to bed”.

“Goodnight”.

“Goodnight dear Prompto”.

He rose from the chair and leisurely made his way upstairs. Once he reached the top, he went to his room and locked the door behind him. He waited, not bothering to prepare himself for bed or even sit down. He simply stood at the door, hearing some shuffling from Prompto below the floorboards. No point in pretending to do something that the blonde couldn’t even see.

After he thought it had been long enough, he ventured back downstairs and re-emerged in the living room, where he found Prompto now in a wooden chair, looking exhausted.

“Prompto! I forgot to mention”, Ardyn spoke up, his mask a face of seriousness, hiding his inner smirk that was begging to come out.

He told the boy exactly what he had been going over in his head since he had come back from Cora’s. A perfect plan, and a perfect trap if Prompto had been going where Ardyn figured he had. During his walk back home, his mind had been racing, an idea forming. The promise of a deal had settle his erratic thoughts and a theory to where Prompto had gone was created in his now clear head. Noctis turning up to the village, a beast true to his form, and then Prompto randomly disappearing after ‘dealing’ with him was too connected to be coincidental. The royal family and their servants must be desperate to try and steal food. It had been quite the surprise to hear from the villagers about what the beast looked like, figuring out who it was had been easy. That day, when Prompto had returned from the hunt, reporting that the beast had been killed and thrown away somewhere, had been the best day of Ardyn's life. Until, he realised the words could be false.

Prompto’s response to the news that a herd of beasts were heading north had been as normal as they come, so much so that Ardyn almost doubted his earlier assumptions. But, the next morning, when he heard Prompto sprint out of the house and gallop away with a chocobo and his weapons, Ardyn figured he wasn’t just going to Cindy’s.

He had been right.

Once Prompto had left, he had made his way to Cora’s, using a chocobo so his journey would be a quicker one. And he watched as she used the same bird to set off in Prompto’s direction.

Everything was going to plan, Ardyn didn’t know if he should have felt satisfied or disappointed.

When Cora had returned, later that day, he knew which one he truly felt.

Discovering his theory was correct didn’t make the blow of the news hurt any less. He had screamed at the girl to get out, not paying her any mind as he wrecked the house he pretended to call ‘home’.

Furniture was scattered and ripped apart, the few photos on the walls were torn to pieces. He stormed up to Prompto’s room and had felt the need to burn it down. Instead, he wrecked everything inside it, making sure any presence or memory of the boy was destroyed.

Betrayed, he had been betrayed by the child he had raised. He had fed him, clothed him, made him stronger and _this_ was the thanks he gets?!

 _Dead._ They would all be _dead_ by the end of this. Every last beast in that castle, every last one that got away, that insufferable prince who had stopped him the first time. And that traitor he had once called his son.

When their bodies lie at his feet. That will be the day his beloved wife and daughter can rest in peace.

_I will win this war for you, my loves._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A BIT OF A TWIST IN THIS ONE, WE HAVE THE POV OF ARDYN NOW, DIDNT SEE THAT ONE COMING, DID YA?
> 
> i'm not exatly sure how good this chapter is but i tried ma best not to rush it. i'm sorry if it's bad
> 
> Thanks for reading anyways, plz leave a kudos or comment they really help.
> 
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> 


	17. Painting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto and Noctis work together to clear up the mess that was once a room of calm.  
> Until, Prompto stumbles across something he shouldn't have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for readin  
> soz for any mistakes

Chapter 17

It was a sight to behold, that was for sure. The fire had held nothing back, it’s flames had been unrelenting. And the scene it had left in its wake was devastating. Not only was the furniture and surroundings broken and burnt; large piles of ash and chunks of the walls also covered the ground, leaving little of the carpet to be seen.

This room had been used for storage, it was lucky that the fire had started someplace uninhabited, no one could’ve survived this. It had been a miracle the fire had spread slow enough for everyone to flee downstairs and, by the sheer will of the people, the fire hadn’t destroyed as many rooms as it could’ve. The body count could’ve been so high. And Noctis would’ve been powerless to stop it

Noctis remembered what the room once was; before the fire, before the fight that ended his humanity. It wasn’t a storage room back then, back when his father’s heart was beating. No, it had been an escape room, a place to leave the hustle and bustle of the castle and simply stare at the stars. Their twinkling light had helped him fall asleep some nights. Once the curse hit, everything changed. The room had been abandoned, a place where they could toss any old junk, so they wouldn’t have to deal with it properly. No one battered an eye at it’s loss, not even Noctis himself. After becoming _this,_ he hadn’t had the will nor energy to keep coming up here, to appreciate the stars again. He hadn’t seen the point. Now, he regretted his lack of trying. Although it wasn’t the most precious room in the castle, he had some good memories here. Like the day his father had found him; fast asleep on one of the sofas and instead of sending him to bed, he had sat down with him, letting Noctis’ head rest on his lap and soon joined him in blissful slumber.

Now, the sofas weren’t even in one piece.

Footsteps sounded beside him, Noctis snapped out of his thoughts and turned his head to watch Prompto wander further into the room, seeming to take in the mess like he had done.

“Oh, boy…”, Prompto whispered, his voice carried itself around the room, sounding like he was in a daze.

Noctis sighed, “This, this is gonna take a while”.

Prompto turned to face him. “where do we even start?”.

Noctis tore his eyes from Prompto to the room and back again. This task was too big for just two men… or one man and a beast, Ignis’ group better join them soon. “Clearing the rubble, I guess? We can figure out where to put it when Ignis arrives”, he replied, shrugging. For now, they could shift it to one side, so they could see what they were really dealing with here.

“I guess I’ll start over here then?”, Prompto said, sounding like he was questioning himself. The blonde headed to a random part of the room and started to dig through the pile of stone in front of him.

Noctis silently walked to the opposite side of the room and copied Prompto’s actions of chucking the rubbish in the far corner of the room.

They worked in peaceful silence. The sound of pieces of metal, stone, wood and other materials hitting the floor repeatedly echoed through the room, like a rhythmically beat of the drums. Except their landing produced harsh clangs and bangs, often screeching along the floor to the corner of the room.

Worst part was, the pieces hadn’t been destroyed into helpful sizes. Thus, Noctis had to put all his weight into moving the larger parts, often favouring to walk closer to their large trash pile he and Prompto had created rather than throw the pieces. They were heavy, and their sharps parts burned his hands, _paws,_ every time he had to pick one up. It had only been a handful of minutes, no longer than an hour, and he could already feel his back and hip stinging as he bent over to pick another piece up.

How long was Ignis going to be? Did it really take so long just to-?

“Hey Noct! Come check this out!”.

His train of thought was interrupted as Prompto shouted to him from across the room. Heaving the piece, he had already picked up, Noctis flung it to the side and walked over to the other. He stopped next to Prompto, carefully standing where the rubble wouldn’t cut into him.

“What is it? What did you- “.

Wait.

…Was that?

“Some sort of painting. Hey, why wasn’t this one downstairs like all the others? Seems pretty fancy to me”.

A painting. Not just any old painting. A painting of him and his dad a month before everything had gone to hell. One of the very few he and his dad had been in together. The one he thought he had destroyed in his anger during the first weeks of the curse. The one that was somehow still existing. The one that was now charred at the sides, it’s frame broken and bent.

“Put…put it down”, his heart was beating loud, drowning out most of the sound from his ears. His voice was a flat whisper. Burn it, break it, throw it away, he didn’t care how! He just wanted it gone.

“What?”.

“I SAID, PUT IT DOWN PROMPTO!”, he screamed at the man he knew didn’t deserve it, not that he cared. He didn’t need the reminders, the memories of what’s gone, of what’s he’s lost. He didn’t need his dad. And he certainly didn’t need any paintings of him.

Prompto blinked at him, once, twice, his eyes were blown open in shock. “…Woah, woah, calm down there, dude. The painting isn’t ruined”. Prompto brushed some dust off the side of it, “Fix it up a bit and you can hang it up again”. His eyes narrowed at the picture. “Is that you? Does that mean the guy next to you is- “?

“SHUT THE HELL UP”. Noctis didn’t want to hear it, not from him, not from anyone. His dad was _dead_ , so what was the point in talking about something he had lost. Something he was never going to get back. He just wanted to bury the memory. Like the day he had to bury his father’s body.

Prompto carefully placed the painting to the side, his eyes looked blankly back at Noctis, confusion filling his features. “Dude, what’s wrong? Was it something I said? I don’t know why- “.

“Of course, you don’t know, why the hell would you!”, Noctis scoffed, his words flowing before his mind could process them, “why would you even care!”.

“Well I… we’re buddies, aren’t we?”, Prompto gave him what looked like a wavering smile, though it was bright, “Just, wanna look out for you, is all”.

“We are _not_ friends. You don’t care what happens to me, I don’t care what happens to you. So, why bother pretending”, he should’ve stop there, he didn’t. “So why don’t you go back home to your sweet little village, killer”.

The smile vanished, a flash of hurt overtook Prompto's features then left, replaced with an unreadable, blank countenance. Not even his eyes revealed what he was thinking. “Fine, if that’s how you feel”, Prompto impassively replied. “But I’m not going anywhere. Whether you want me to or not, I’m going to help”.

And with that, Prompto wordlessly turned from Noctis and ventured to another part of the room where he continued the task of sorting through the destruction.

Regret stung Noctis’ chest, yet his anger overpowered the feeling and he marched to the furthest part of the room away from Prompto.

He didn’t want to remember.

He didn’t want to go through the pain again.

_Please, just leave me alone._

 

A little while later, Ignis and a small part of his group from earlier joined them upstairs. Out of the corner of his eye, Noctis saw Ignis glance from him to Prompto, a questioning brow raised. The prince was too busy trying to occupy his mind to care.

He heard Ignis instruct some orders as his groups spilt up to help them, then he heard footsteps directly approach him, Noctis kept his back turned away.

“Something the matter, highness?”, Ignis asked behind him. Though the way he said it sounded like he already had a pretty good idea of what happened.

“Don’t call me that”, Noctis grumbled back, “I’m fine”.

“Really? Then, the fact your face is sour, which it wasn’t downstairs, and you and Prompto are far away from each other is just a coincidence then?”, Ignis sighed. He walked around the prince, so he was now facing him, Noctis couldn’t avoid his gaze even if he wanted to. The bespectacled man took on a softer look. “What happened? Did you have a disagreement?”.

 _I fucked up._ “No”, he stubbornly replied.

Another sigh. “Whatever happened Noctis, and I know something _did,_ it’s best to talk it out with Prompto rather than ignore him. Don’t let whatever happened ruin your friendship with the man, not when he seems to make you so happy.”. And with that, Ignis left him and joined his group, his words sticking themselves inside Noctis’ head.

His head was racing but his body felt numb. He couldn’t tell what hurt more. The truth of Ignis’ words, the reminder of his dad and in turn, the reminder of the past or the fact that he hurt the man that was helping them once again and still was, even with the harsh words Noctis had spat at him.

What would his father think if he could see him now? His blood ran cold at the thought, his frown deepening. Part of him hoped there was no way for the dead to see the living, so his father couldn’t see the thing he’d become. The disappointment in his eyes would be unbearable. Whatever pride his father use to feel about him would be gone in an instant.

His head preoccupied, Noctis mindlessly continued the task of clearing, not paying any attention to what he was lifting, to the pain in his fingers, to the surrounding people, or to the destroyed room he was in.

Until he heard a shout of his name.

“NOCT!”.

Prompto, Prompto had called out to him. Not to get his attention like before, not in anger like Noctis had done to him. His voice was panicked, laced with fear and urgency. Noctis raised his head and turned to Prompto.

The man was running towards him, his face a perfect reflection of his voice and Noctis couldn’t understand why he looked like that. Until, he noticed bits of rubble and dust falling around him. He looked up, to see the ceiling beginning to crumble, large chunks about to fall right on top of him. He wouldn’t be able to move in time. Trapped, he raised his arms over his head and closed his eyes, waiting for the impact. He could die.

Maybe he deserved to.

A large, heavy force toppled into him. Not from above, but from the side. He felt two firm arms wrapped around his torso as he, and something else, fell to the ground and rolled across the floor.

Eventually, he felt himself stop. He had landed on his back, the hard, wooden floorboards uncomfortable against his spine. Something warm hovered above him, barely touching his chest. He groaned in pain and forced his eyes open. His pure blue eyes met a pair of slightly blue, slightly purple ones, looking at him in concern. Prompto peered down at him, his arms encaging Noctis on either side of his head, his face and body so close to his.

“You ok?”, Prompto softly whispered, his eyes never leaving Noctis’.

Noctis struggled to find his voice, his eyes darted to every part of Prompto’s face before ending back to his eyes. His body was frozen in place, his arms stuck at his sides. “Prompto…”, his voice was almost mute. “I- uh… yeah”.

Prompto’s shoulders seemed to sag in relief, a small smile gracing his lips, “Good”.

They stayed silent after that. Noctis found himself unable to speak or move. His eyes stayed on the man on top of him, they darted down to Prompto’s lips, remaining there for a second until he flicked them back up again. Prompto hadn’t moved either, his eyes never left his, his hair slightly tousled as his face stayed only centimetres from him. Noctis felt his face heating up.

“Are you two alright?”.

Startled, Noctis shuffled from underneath Prompto who moved off the man. Noctis sat up, a bit too quick, his head throbbed as his vision darkened slightly. “I’m fine”, he awkwardly muttered, the pain slowly subsiding.

“Yeah, I’m good”, Prompto added as he stood from the floor.

Ignis gave Noctis’ a hardened look, “That was too close. What were you thinking Noctis, why didn’t you move?”, his tone was scolding but Noctis could tell there was an underlying worry to it.

Still sat on the floor, Noctis hung his head low, “Sorry specs, I- sorry”.

Ignis let out a calming breath, “You didn’t get hurt, that’s all that matters. Perhaps, you and Prompto should take a break downstairs”.

Noctis tried to protest, “but I can- “.

“You can come back after you’ve had a breather Noctis”, Ignis smiled at him, his stern scolding completely erased from his features, “Now, go on and make sure you check for any injuries”.

Ignis turned away from them, “Please return to you work everyone!”, he instructed to his group who had stopped to watch their little display, Noctis hadn’t even noticed.

He huffed, his back ached and his head still stung. Noctis didn’t know if he could survive going down all those stairs.

Then, a hand came into his view. He raised his head to see Prompto looking down at him, his hand offered, a smile on his face. “Come on Noct, let’s go”.

The smile was too kind, too bright, too forgiving for what he did earlier. He couldn’t think of one good reason the blonde would willingly be near him, not after what he said. Still, he took his hand and let Prompto help him up, his joints aching as he stood.

They made their way to the door, Noctis felt Prompto’s hand on his lower back, supporting him until they were outside of the room, the door shut behind them. They didn’t move from their spot outside.

“You sure you’re ok?”, Prompto asked, facing him.

“…yeah”, Noctis cleared his throat, his eyes repeatedly looking at Prompto and away from him. “Listen, I’m sorry… for earlier, I shouldn’t have said what I did”.

Prompto’s soft eyes gazed into his, “Don’t worry about it, it’s fine”.

“It’s not fine. I said some awful things to you, I swear none of them were true. The painting… it just… I- “.

“The man in the painting, I was right, wasn’t I? he’s your dad”, Prompto interrupted, his voice gentle.

 _Was, he was my dad._ Noctis didn’t respond but his face must’ve given Prompto the answer he needed.

Prompto frowned, appearing to be in thought, “You don’t have to talk to me about it but… if you ever do, I’ll always be willing to lend an ear”, he paused. Prompto placed a hand on Noctis shoulder and the prince looked straight back at him. “ok?”.

Noctis stared at him, considering his words. “…Yeah, ok”, he managed to croak out.

“Ok. Let’s go take that break then, yeah?”.

Noctis nodded but before he could take a step down the first stair, Prompto held his arm out in front of him, blocking his path.

“I saw you limping when we left the room dude, there’s no way I’m letting you walk down all those stairs”, Prompto smiled at him, although this smile seemed much more mischievous than the others.

Noctis groaned. He tried to sound annoyed, but he was grateful for the change of topic. The tense atmosphere and their argument were gone, replaced with how it was before. It helped him settle his nerves. “Does that mean…?”.

Prompto fully smirked at him, “Looks like I’m carrying you back down”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> carrying yo boi downstairs
> 
> so yeah, another chapter, not much to say about this one. grieving and shit  
> I think it's wrote ok?..... mayyybbeee
> 
> OH WELL, TOUGH NOW.
> 
> Thanks for reading anyways, plz leave a kudos or comment they really help.
> 
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> Come talk to meh on tumblr.
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> Is there something ya want me to write? An idea for a short fic i could do? then send those ma way too


	18. Your words mean everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Temporarily dismissed, the two head back downstairs.  
> Where no one else is in sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for readin  
> Soz for any mistakes

 

Time cut quicker going back down the stairs and the two found themselves in the castle’s kitchen sooner than anticipated. No one else was there, any cooks or staff were most likely part of one of the groups helping to restore the castle. Prompto settled Noct back down to his feet; the prince proceeded to brush off his clothes and limped to one of the cupboards, his leg clearly still giving him some trouble. Wordlessly and with movement that appeared practiced, he took out two glasses and maneuvered to the sink where he filled them with water.

Noctis walked back to where Prompto stood and handed him a glass.

“Thanks”. Prompto gratefully took the glass, a smile etched onto his face.

“No problem”, Noctis replied, his hand gripping harshly onto the kitchen side as he took a swing of water.

His leg was trembling and, though he didn’t word it, the pain of standing up was obvious through the look of his tense eyebrows and clenched jaw.

Prompto watched him silently take a few more sips, before placing his glass down and taking hold of Noctis arm. The dark-haired man looked at him, a questioning gaze settled on his features.

“Let’s go sit down, it's gotta be comfier than standing around in here”, Prompto suggested, his own joints stinging.

Noctis stayed silent for a few seconds. Then he nodded, leaving his glass next to Prompto’s, the man straightened and took a few hesitant steps toward the kitchen’s exit. Quickly, Prompto hardened his hold on Noctis’ arm, and walked beside him. He wasn’t offering much support in this position, but, knowing Noctis and how much he seemed to hate his help, it was all Prompto was willing to push. Especially since he carried him down the stairs.

 

They slowly walked out of the kitchen and through the dining room, eventually making their way to the entrance room, where Prompto removed his hold on Noctis as he joined the prince in taking a seat on one of the red sofas. Prompto let himself relax into the soft red leather, letting his joints and muscles stretch amongst the pleasing material. He heard a yawn beside him and turned his gaze to Noctis, who was slouched on the sofa, no posture or care into his position. Not very royal at all.

“You alright?”.

“Yeah…”, Noctis tiredly answered, lifting his paw to rub his eyes. “Sleepy…”.

Prompto let out a small ‘hmm’. How Noct had gotten so tired in the little amount of time they’d been awake, he had no idea. A near death experience must’ve knocked the energy out of him. Prompto shivered as the memory of the debris falling right on top of Noct re-entered his head. Never had he ever sounded so desperate when he had called out the prince’s name. He had only ever once had the thought that maybe the person he was trying to save was going to die, that he would fail. Once were already too many times, now he had a second memory to add to the mix.

The girl had been young, only four or five, she had been corned by a large wolfish beast that towered over her. Scared, she had only been able to tuck herself as far as she could from the thing, her legs shaking too ferociously to run from it. Prompto had been right around the corner when he heard the scream, so close, yet, too far. There was blood, so much blood, when he had finally killed the thing. Her pure red blood mixed in a pool with the beast’s black. Prompto’s own blood was probably mixed in too; there had been no time for a plan or even an idea of where to hit, he had simply slashed at the thing until it left the girl and focused on him. He had earned a nasty scar for that. Miraculously, the girl survived. Prompto had hauled his first aid kit out, shouting for help while he did all that he could to stop the bleeding. So much blood. Help had arrived, the girl got treated by official doctors, the wounds had been so severe it took an age before the girl’s condition could be named.

Yes, she was alive.

But the scars on her stomach and in her head would be permanent.

And she would never walk without a limp.

A limp that Noctis had.

Because he had almost let it happen again.

Prompto felt water sting at the corner of his eyes, he felt a singular warm tear roll down his cheek.

“Prom…Prompto?”.

Two hands, no…two _paws_ cupped his face, and the tear was wiped away. Prompto blinked, startled, his eyes coming face to face with Noctis’ endless blue.

“You ok?”, Noctis voice was gentle, a complete opposite to his earlier mumbles.

The other man was leaned over the sofa, positioning himself so he was within an inch of Prompto. Prompto pulled away, breaking the contact between his face and Noctis’ paws, removing the warmth and wiping his eyes. “Yeah, yeah just… got caught up in my head”. He forced himself to keep his eyes on Noctis, removing any chance of returning to his head.

Noctis leaned back, gnawing at his bottom lip but saying nothing else.

Prompto sighed, clasping his hands together, his head bowed down away from Noctis stare. All this talk of telling Noct that he could talk to him, confide in him, about the bad things in his head when he couldn’t even do it himself. There again, sharing had never been his best subject. But, for Noctis, he could try for Noctis.

“You just, you really scared me back there, Noct”, Prompto admitted, his voice hushed.

Noctis casted his eyes away, the guilt clear. “Sorry, I – I should’ve realised, and I should’ve… moved, but I didn’t”, he stopped there, taking a deep breath and facing Prompto with a sad smile, “… I got caught up in my head, I guess”.

Prompto chuckled, it was pathetic and low, but it was better than nothing. “Wanna share?”.

A sharp fang cut its way into Noctis lips as he considered, or that’s what it looked like anyway. “You go first”. The old stubbornness returned to Noct, the barriers that he hid behind standing tall. A little curiosity blended within his eyes, keeping them directly on the blonde.

“Ok, that’s seems fair”, Prompto conceded. He sat back into the sofa, his head resting on the top of it, he looked up at the ceiling as he recalled the nightmare over again. “I once… failed saving someone, I failed the one thing that I was born for, I failed them”, he took a breath, “a child, a girl who had her whole life ahead of her and I let one of those… _monsters_ hurt her. There were shouts, and I ran, I ran so fast and far, it- it wasn’t enough though. By the time I had reached them… blood everywhere… she…”, he rubbed at his eyes, forcing the tears back, “she limps every time she takes a step, and her mind... is so, so fragile”. He tossed his head to Noctis, the prince was looking at him intently; sympathy and sadness displayed on his face. “Seeing you today… how _close_ it came, the fear _I_ felt, hoping and praying I would get to you in time. I can’t let what happened to the girl happen again, I _won’t_ let it, but it was so close”. He sat straight, no longer feeling the sofa as comforting or relaxing, he felt tense. “I can’t let it happen to you”.

Noctis wide eyes stared back at him, any thoughts or words were not present on the man’s tongue. Instead, he cleared his throat and gazed down at the floor. Minutes passed, and Noct still wouldn’t look at him. Maybe he was disappointed, disgusted, seeing Prompto for the fault that he is. For the fault that he caused and couldn’t fix.

“My father”, Noct started, thankfully breaking Prompto from his thoughts once more, “he – I never got to spend much time with him, I regret that every day, but he loved me and I- “. His voice broke, Prompto could see the tears below Noctis’ fringe, “the day… the day he died, I didn’t- I couldn’t – I ran, wanting to forget everything, to leave it behind. When I got back and the curse”, Noctis clenched his paws, “the curse turned everything to _hell,_ I – “. He stopped, his breathing had become shaky with uneven sobs wrecking through his body. Prompto grabbed one of his paws, rubbing it gently while encircling his arm around his back, letting the man release his pain. After a few moments, Noctis' croaky voice continued, “I disappointed everyone, they’re all trapped because of me… Imagine if my father could see me now, see the _thing_ I’ve become”, Noctis sighed, long and deeply, “I yelled at you earlier because… because the painting had brought back so many memories I have _tried_ to forget, I know that doesn’t excuse it, but… it just- it hurts”.

Again, he stopped, this time however, Prompto concluded he had finished. His words stung at Prompto’s heart and the broken voice of the man tore into him. He would take away the pain if he could.

Instead, he did the only thing his brain could come up with and pulled the man into a hug, his arms wrapped around Noct’s waist as the prince clung onto his shirt.

“You can’t just forget, Noct”. Prompto felt the other man dig deeper into his chest. “I know it hurts, but forcing yourself to not think about it, to not give yourself a chance to mourn, it will only break you. Losing your father, you should’ve have _never_ had to gone through that, but forgetting all of it means you’re forgetting the good parts as well, the good memories, the ones you should cherish and hold tight”. Prompto didn’t know where these words were coming from, no one had ever died in his life, not to his knowledge in any case. But Noct _needed_ something, something to help. He just hoped what he was saying was the right thing.

“I bet your dad is proud of you, wherever he is watching over you. Because you _did_ come back, you stopped the darkness, you saved lives and now you’re only trying to help everyone. You’re a good guy Noct, don’t let the curse blind you to that”.

Those last few words were familiar, similar to the other night, where Noct’s doubts had come up for the first time. Maybe Prompto hadn’t said enough, maybe it would never be enough, but he would remind the other as many times as he needed.

Eventually, Noctis’ breathing evened out, but he stayed where he was. Prompto didn’t complain.

“The girl wasn’t your fault”.

Prompto froze.

“It wasn’t”, Noctis continued, “you did everything you could”.

Tense, Prompto replied, “it wasn’t enough”.

“You couldn’t have done anymore, no one could have. Don’t blame yourself for that. You’re only human, you can only run so fast and attack so soon”.

Prompto mind was in the battle. All the past things he had told himself about that day, all he tried to keep tucked away but kept creeping back was fighting against Noctis’ own words.

“You… you really think that?”.

“Course I do”.

Prompto sighed. Somehow the words helped the sting that memory held all these years, he hoped his own words had done the same for Noct.

“…About what said before… when you’d found the painting- “.

“I told you that you’re already forgiven Noct, don’t- “.

Noctis gently removed himself from Prompto’s arms, still sitting close he gazed at him; his eyes were slightly red and puffy but the tears had stopped falling. “Let me finish. I know I already apologised but… just know I deeply regret every word. Every last one. You’re no killer Prom and I... I do care...”, Noctis eyes darted to the side, “forget what I said before, I was being dumb”.

Prompto smiled warmly at him, the words a comfort in his chest. Then, he snorted, drawing Noctis attention towards him. “When are you ever _Noct_ being dumb”.

The dumb, repetitive joke brought a slow grin to Noctis' face, “I swear, if you keep using that joke- “.

“Oh yeah? What you gonna do? Ya _Noct_ gonna do nothing”.

“Don’t push it Prom…”. The small warning was obvious in Noctis’ voice, Prompto ignored it.

“ _Noct_ amused? Are the jokes _Noct_ to your- “.

Before he could finish, Noctis pounced on the blonde. Taken off guard, Noctis had the advantage and pinned him to the sofa. Prompto blinked, the surprise delaying his response time, Noctis' cheeky grin and bright eyes stared down at him. Prompto tossed him away and the two wrestled each other until they both ended up on the floor. Where they continued; the two rolling back and forth, trying to pin the other, while taking wild, light, playful swings and pushes at each other, laughing all the while. It was a while until they stopped; both panting heavily, Prompto laid next to Noctis, both chests rhythmically heaving.

“…I win”, Prompto struggled to breath out.

“No way”, Noctis bit back, turning his face toward him so his breath blew repeatedly in Prompto’s face. _Smells like mint._

“Fineeee, you win. Only because I’m feeling nice”.

Noctis snorted, “shut up”.

Laughing, Prompto lift himself up so he was resting on his side, then he leaned over to where Noctis still lay. He stared into those beautiful, blue eyes. “Your leg ok?”.

“…yeah”, Noctis said, still out of breath.

Minutes passed, or maybe seconds, Prompto didn’t know anymore. Because, once again, he found himself unable to stop looking into those eyes, like they were holding him in place. And when he wasn’t looking at the blue, his gaze wandered lower to Noctis’ lips, which were just as strong as keeping him in place as his eyes were. What was wrong with him? Why couldn’t he-?

“You two lovebirds gonna come help or what?”.

Prompto’s head snapped up as he recognised the voice calling them from the other side of the room.

There stood Gladio, his arms filled with equipment and wood. His face, surprisingly, was not one of anger or irritation but instead held an all-knowing smirk that made Prompto’s nerves spike more than any of his scowls did. Why? He didn’t know. He was surprised the other man wasn’t growling at them, considering how their last conversation went.

Also, _lovebirds?_

“We’ll be right there, Gladio”, Noctis responded, his voice was back in full force now.

Gladio grunted and walked away from them and up the stairs where he disappeared down one of the hallways.

Noctis and Prompto rose from the floor, the blonde could see a little red dusting Noct’s cheeks.

“Shall we head back?”, Noctis said.

Prompto took one quick look outside a far-right window. They must’ve taken a longer break than he thought, the sky’s morning blue had already turn slightly yellow. _Can’t stay for long._

Smiling, Prompto lead the way back, “Let’s go”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhhh yes, another one done.  
> This chapter was just like a time for the two to have another heart to heart.  
> sozz that a kiss or anything too intimate aint happened yet...... ya just gonna have to suffer
> 
> Next chapter... shit goes down - just a warning for yall
> 
> Thanks for reading anyways, if ya want, leave a kudos or comment they really help.
> 
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> Come talk to meh on tumblr.
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> Is there something ya want me to write? An idea for a short fic i could do? then send those ma way too


	19. The truth hurts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto learns some things about Noctis.  
> Then, he learns some things he would rather not know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for readin  
> soz for any mistakes

 

Upstairs Ignis’ group had made a tremendous amount of progress. Majority of the rubble had been cleared from the floor and moved to Prompto’s and Noct’s original corner; where it was now being tossed from a nearby window, a large, rectangular bin now stood below it. Part of Ignis’ group were overseeing the process down below, keeping a safe distance from the falling scraps. The precision and the amount of teamwork that was being put into all of this was brilliantly astounding.

Ignis spotted them, standing still in the doorway, watching the work unfold in front of them, until the bespectacled man beckoned them over with a swift wave.

“Good to see you two back, I trust things are better now?”. After the two nodded their heads in confirmation, Ignis continued. “Marvellous. I’ve got some tasks for you to do, if you’re feeling up to it”.

Prompto could see the relief in Ignis and how the concern from earlier had been put to rest; his eyes less narrow and concentrated, his shoulders more slumped, his jaw less tense. The earlier worry from the man was understandable, but it was nice to see him relax after it all. “Sure, just tell us what you want doing”.

Although neither had ever done it before, since their ‘occupations’ were far from anything close to builder, their task was fairly simple once Ignis had explained the how’s. Tear away the broken parts of the wall; any chipped, cracked or useless bits of brick were to be removed, and then replaced with the new batch brought up earlier by Gladio’s group. To help things, Iris and her group had drawn a simple sketch of where things were to be placed and what exactly needed knocking down, so they could completely reform the room. Prompto had been hesitant at first, laying bricks had never been a skill he had tried to develop, but with Noct’s help and the drawings, the two found themselves in a similar rhythmically process of working through the job. Their actions started to synch up as time moved on; they would both move majority of the bricks, then when one part was done, Noctis would start layering the new ones on while Prompto continued to break the rest of the wall down. If one fell behind with their task, the other would pause theirs to help them out.

The job didn’t feel dangerous either, mainly because it almost wasn’t. Even though they were removing the wall that enclosed them, making themselves vulnerable to the outside world and the zephyr blowing through, it didn’t scare them. As many safety precautions as possible had been put in place, Ignis’ group had been especially careful after Noctis’ accident. There now stood rope tied around the room like a fence, so that while Noctis and Prompto were close to the edge, they couldn’t stand right on top of it. Also, above them, the ceiling had been taped over and netting hung just below it to catch any slippery parts that found their way through. It served as a painful reminder to Prompto of what almost happened before.

They both kept conversations going between themselves, it helped Prompto divert away from his mind and memories and it also helped time go by rapidly. Anything and everything was spoken about; small talk that never really led anywhere and only served to satisfy Prompto's curiosity.

“So, what did you do for fun around here? Before I arrived”, Prompto asked.

Noctis gave him a quizzical look, “how do you mean?”.

Stacking another brick on top, Prompto searched his mind for another way of saying it, “Like… what do you like to do? For fun? A hobby?”.

A look of revelation crossed Noctis’ face, a small ‘Ohh’ from his lips. Then his eyes darted to the side, slightly narrower than normal; a look of deep thinking. He was clearly taking this question more seriously than he had with the others, taking his time to word his answer rather than throw it out like the others, or… was it that hard to think of something he liked to do?

“I…”. Noctis was gazing at the wall, though it didn’t look like he was actually _seeing_ it – too caught up in his thoughts. “I liked to… make things, like, drawings or little sculptures… or whatever”.

He said it close to silently, his lips barely moving as he only barely managed to mumble out the words, almost like he was ashamed or afraid to say it or that he didn’t want Prompto to hear it.

It wasn’t something Prompto expected Noctis to say. Granted, he didn’t really know what he expected. Though he’d like to think he knew Noctis pretty well by now, some parts were still a mystery. Prompto never pegged him as the creative type. There again, it kinda made sense when he thought about it; trapped in a castle this long, they all had to do something. Maybe Noct’s hobby was a way for him to escape beyond the castle’s door. It was a hobby where his imagination could take over and he could make whatever he wanted without restrictions, without being stuck in place, something that he had control over and could do whatever he wanted. Prompto wondered what kind of things Noctis’ chose to make, what kind of pictures did he draw: guesses of the current outside world? Simple day to day things that brought a smile to his face? People he could place in whatever scene he wanted? What kind of sculptures would he produce? People? Animals? Objects? The more Prompto thought about, the more intrigued he became.

He didn’t know if Noctis could see it but Prompto smiled at him anyway, his voice enthusiastic, “Oh yeah? Sweet dude, you gotta show me someday”.

Noctis turned to look at him an uncertain frown settled on his face, “You wanna see them?”.

“Yeah, if that’s ok, I’d love to see”.

The prince shuffled his feet side to side, a little awkwardly before answering with a smile directed at the blonde, “Alright”.

Prompto grinned, moving his face back to the partly open, partly fixed wall. Removing another cluster of broken bricks, Prompto gazed at the setting sun, his heart beating loudly as the pressure of time dawned on him.

_Gotta go back._

His skin shivered at the thought. He wanted to stay, he wanted to help. Why did every time he had settled back into this place he had to leave? At this point he was convinced time hated him, or maybe a god was just playing with him.

But maybe he was asking for it.

These past days, he had kept abandoning his village, only returning so Ardyn wouldn’t grow suspicious. But a beast attack could happen anytime, it was only luck that none had occurred when he was away. That means he had risked the lives of hundreds, so he could try to have some fun of his own. Selfish.

Perhaps, he shouldn’t come back tomorrow. He should stay at the village for the day. He probably should stay a couple and make sure everything’s in order and that everyone is fine. Then he could return to the castle, but only stay to help for a few hours rather than an entire day. It was better than nothing. For future times, perhaps he could create a way for people to alarm him rather than him having to be there all the time. There had to be a way for him to still visit the castle and protect the village, there must be…

Or, he could stop being a selfish brat and just stay where he was supposed to.

Prompto sighed as he faced Noctis, placing the bricks he had removed on the ground, “I… I have to- “.

Noctis finished laying a final brick down, “You’re leaving…”

It wasn’t a question, but Prompto answered it like it was, “Yeah… But I’ll be back, just like before, I promise!”.

Instead of the expected sad or down look, Noctis smiled at him, a small but definitely not a sad one. “Y- yeah. I’ll show you out”.

Surprised by the response, it took Prompto a total of three seconds before smiling back and asking Noct to lead the way.

Halfway down, he got the painful reminder of how many stairs there was.

 

 

The goodbyes weren’t as hurtful this time. With the knowledge that he was going to try to find a way to keep visiting helped Prompto wish Noct goodbye and ride away on his chocobo and his still wet cart. Plus, the fact that Noct waved him goodbye, smiling as he stood there watching him leave helped too.

By the time Prompto had reached the woods, the sun had set, and darkness took over the once orange sky. Silence lingered in the air as he kept his guard up around every corner, the lack of light inhibiting his senses. Nothing had ever attacked him when he had made the journey back before, that didn’t mean something wouldn’t, given the chance and the right opportunity.

Up ahead, he saw where the yellow lights of the village blended with the dark background of the sky. And as he travelled away from the thicker trees, the full moon above illuminated the rest of the way until he reached the village.

He made his way through the street slowly, like before he inspected every corner he passed for some indication of an attack while he had been gone. No screams or shouts, no scared people, no running or hiding, the only people being awake were calmly passing through the streets to their homes. Luck must’ve been on his side once more. It was bound to run out soon though.

Prompto heaved a sigh as he continued past the many lit and dark homes, heading straight to his house. His mind felt heavy and messy, he had a lot of decisions to make, ones he used to think he would never have to consider. If anyone had told him a few weeks ago that he would have to even consider leaving this village, even for a second, he would’ve just shrugged it off and told them it was unlikely to ever happen. Impossible even. But now, he was stuck, and it hurt him. There was no way for everyone to get what they wanted, not without sacrifices. Sacrifices that he would have to make. Because he knew the truth, he knew what he should do, he knew what was the right thing to do. Because his happiness wasn’t worth a life.

“Prompto!”.

He snapped out of his thoughts, slowing his chocobo further so he could find the source of the voice. Then, he saw her; Cora, standing on a street corner smiling at him. Uneasiness crept into Prompto’s chest, her smile was all too friendly, even for her, and her eyes were different – they appeared darker, almost mischievous. She waved at him and turned away, heading inside her home. After the door shut behind her, Prompto relaxed, not sure why seeing her had unnerved him so much. He urged his chocobo faster to his house.

 

No light shone from his house, it was engulfed in darkness, there was no warmth emitting from his ‘home’ as he untacked his chocobo from his cart and left the bird in a fresh patch of straw. As he left his chocobo to rest and headed towards the door he felt the same feeling of uneasiness again. His chest felt tight and his throat was dry, he almost didn’t open the door. Nerves, that was all it was. Nervous about Ardyn’s questioning and the lies he would have to spill in order to keep Noctis and the others safe. Yeah, that was all it was.

He opened the door and entered the cold, bleak house, not bothering to remove his boots. Instead he firmly tapped them against the floor, removing most of the dirt and dust. Quietly, he entered the living room, wanting to rest his feet for a while and perhaps get a drink before heading to bed, he didn’t expect there to be a shadowed figure standing in front of the fireplace, its back to him.

Ardyn.

“So, you’re finally back. Tell me, where were you this time?”.

Ardyn’s tone made him stop, the mock calmness that tried to cover his voice was strained at best, a hidden rage lied behind it. He sounded like a madman trying so hard not to break his cover. But Prompto heard it all the same. Yet, he didn’t comment on it, not wanting to release whatever was hiding in Ardyn.

He started with an apology, “I’m so sorry Ardyn, really I am”. He was beyond sorry, for everything, for abandoning his job, his village, his home, for all the lies and deceit, for whatever pain he had caused Ardyn to make him be so close to breaking point. “… I have no excuse for staying away so long, but I- “.

Ardyn bashed his fist against the fireplace, cracking it, “You still haven’t answered my question. Where. Were. You?”.

A lie. He had to lie. A lie that didn’t involve his only friend in the village this time. One that wouldn’t bring Cindy into this mess. One that wouldn’t cause Ardyn to turn some of his rage on her. One that had nothing to do with the castle and Noct. “I camped out the night, in the forest, looking out for the herd of beasts you informed me about”, he kept his voice short and level, summarising it all like a soldier telling his report to the captain. He almost hated how good he was at it. At lying. At hiding.

Silence. A long, stiff pause in the room that Prompto bared through. Until, a sick, deep cackle sounded from the man in front of him. The sound was so dark, so wrong and vicious that it caused a deep shiver to run down Prompto’s spine as he stared at Ardyn with wide eyes.

Ardyn turned around and what Prompto saw was nothing short of horrifying. The thing by the fireplace looked no longer like the man he knew. Dark, thick liquid ran down Ardyn’s eyes and the side of his mouth, his skin was as white as a winter’s morning, his teeth were visibly sharper than any humans as he continued his onslaught of broken cackles. Prompto stood still, stuck in place, he lost all ability to speak as he kept staring at what once was a man. Now, he didn’t know what he was.

Ardyn’s cackles seized. A deep grin, unnatural and nefarious in every way, grew on his face. “Somehow, my dear, dear boy, I don’t believe you”.

… _What?..._

“You see, as a concerned parental figure, I had to investigate into these little wanderings of yours”.

_No, please no._

“And guess what I discovered? Oh, and this time, no more lies”.

Fear overtook him, he could feel his hands tremble slightly against his sides. He knew, Ardyn knew, and that meant that everyone, everyone was –

“I can explain”. Despite his terror, he kept his voice strong, desperate to convince the man not to hurt them. “They’re – they’re not what you think, Ardyn. They’re not beasts, they won’t hurt us! They- “.

“Let me save you your energy, dear boy”, Ardyn interrupted, waving his hand to the side as if to toss away his words. “I know what they are, or, more specifically, _who_ they are: Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum and his band of guards and servants. Oh yes, I know them _very_ well”.

Confusion replaced most fear in Prompto’s mind, he scrunched his eyebrows, peering into Ardyn’s black eyes. “You – you never said – you never told me”.

A cruel laugh erupted from Ardyn’s spilling mouth, “That’s because, it’s _none_ of your _damn_ business, my boy”.

“If you know who they are, then you know they won’t hurt us, or the village”, Prompto spat back, any pain he felt was hidden in anger. He knew. The bastard knew them, he must’ve know they were struggling, dying. Yet, he did _nothing_ to help.

Ardyn growled, his laughter gone, “They already have!”. Another growl, Ardyn took a step toward Prompto, who took a step back. Ardyn grabbed a vase situated on the fireplace and threw it toward Prompto, aiming for his head. He rolled to the side, barely dodging the blow, he defensively stood back on his feet, his narrowed eyes staring at Ardyn. This was no longer an argument, it was a fight.

“Do you have any idea what they did to me! What they took away from me!”. Ardyn started to destroy everything in sight, sometimes throwing them at Prompto, sometimes not, it didn’t look like it mattered to him. “THEY KILLED EVERYONE I LOVED! And now the boy that _I_ raised when no one else wanted him _betrays_ me and fucking helps the royals who ruined my life!”.

He screamed, shouted and tore into everything around him and Prompto could only watch in horror as the man he once called family destroy everything they had. He couldn’t stop him, he knew he couldn’t. But, he couldn’t hurt him either.

He had to run.

Prompto sprang past Ardyn, dodging a brick flying past as he did, and sprinted to the door. He slammed it behind him and took off to the Chocobos, both were awake, the loud shouts and bangs must’ve disturbed their sleep. Both let out continues concerned sounding ‘Kweh’ as he ran toward the birds. Not wanting to leave them at the mercy of Ardyn’s wrath, he untied them both, before hopping on one and racing away, the other following behind him. He didn’t look back, he just kept moving, urging his Chocobo to go as fast as he could as he raced back through the village and into the forest.

He could still hear Ardyn’s screams in his mind, the words haunting him.

 

When he reached the castle, he leapt off his bird while the second one caught up. With both standing side by side, he tied them to the same post he had used before and headed to the castle’s entrance.

His thoughts whirled as he stood by the door, the past few minutes replayed over and over again in his mind. He didn’t know what hurt more; his head or his chest. Taking a few short shallow breaths, Prompto knocked on the wooden door and waited.

He had nowhere else to go. No home. No family. He couldn’t dump himself at Cindy’s, it was too close to his own house and the risk of Ardyn hurting her or finding him was too high. He hated the fact he had to come here, if Ardyn looked for him that meant he was risking all the lives inside by just being here. It was too dangerous.

He turned from the door and started to step away, until he heard it open behind him.

“Prompto?”.

_Noctis._

Prompto turned back round, coming face to face with the prince. Noctis’ eyes looked worried as he gazed back at him.

_I shouldn’t be here._

_I can’t let him hurt **you**._

Prompto tried his best at a smile, “Hey Noct, I, uh… I”. He hung is head, no words coming forming in his mind. It was so crammed, he couldn’t think anything through.

A hand grabbed his. The gentle warmth a welcoming feeling in his palm, Prompto let out a sigh. He noticed Noctis slightly pull his hand and didn’t offer any resistance when the man guided him inside.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told ya shit would go down didnt i?  
> woahhhhh long chapter........... hope it was good?
> 
> um yea, its long cause i wanted to get to a certain point in this chapter, which is also why its up late... i think. i dont exactly have a schedule for when i post chapters
> 
> UM YEA
> 
> Thanks for reading anyways, if ya want, leave a kudos or comment they really help.
> 
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> Come talk to meh on tumblr.
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> Is there something ya want me to write? An idea for a short fic i could do? then send those ma way too


	20. I think I...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’ve lost everything”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for readin  
> Soz for any mistakes

 

“I’ve lost everything”.

Those were the first few words the blonde had said since Noctis had led him inside, practically dragging his lifeless body to his room. And Noctis was terrified. Beyond terrified.

Prompto looked so pale, so lost, so broken. And the lack of sound from him when they had walked inside made everything feel colder. His face was blank, his eyes empty, his steps slugged like he was in a daze. No emotion, no thoughts, no reactions.

And it tore Noctis apart.

They sat together on his bed. Noctis eyes never leaving him, Prompto’s own gaze lost in the distance somewhere. The only thing that made Prompto look even vaguely alive was the slight tremble in his fingertips, his hands clasped together trying to stop the fidgeting. Noctis took one of his hands and engulfed it in his own, squeezing tightly, trying to awake Prompto from wherever his mind had wondered off to. A breath of relief left his lips when Prompto squeezed back, it was only a little, but it was enough to quell Noctis’ fear.

What happened?

What had caused the smiles, the laughter, the pure bright light in Prompto to distinguish, so much so that it left a dark, hollow shell.

The other man had put on a brave face when Noctis had answered the door, his smile so easily false, his attempt of pretending so painful to Noctis’ eyes and ears. The knock on the door had been a surprise, and if Noctis hadn’t been moping around the fireplace, no one would’ve heard it. He didn’t hesitate when answering even though he hadn’t known who it was, the little, pathetic hope in his heart knew who he wished it to be, and that made him throw any safety to the side as he had flung the door open. Truthfully, his mind knew there was no way for it to be the person he wanted it to be knocking. And then, when it had been, all joy or happiness of seeing him drained away when he took one look at the man’s face. And the fact that Prompto was in the middle of walking away, of being on his own to deal with whatever demons plagued his heart left a pain in Noctis’ own. What if he hadn’t heard the door? Or answer it soon enough? Thoughts of Prompto wandering the woods, so lost in his own head that he wouldn’t be paying attention to the darkness around him, he would’ve been all alone, and if an attack had happened…

Would the man even try to fight back?

“Prom… What happened?”.

_Tell me._

_Talk to me._

_Please don’t hide away._

A minute passed, maybe two. Prompto breathed in deeply, exhaling into an empty chuckle. It was weak, barely louder than a breath of air, and as void as an abandoned heart.

“Y’know…I was gonna use those savings to have one day, just one day of freedom”. Prompto smiled his way through, like it was all some bad joke, it was a torn smile that could crack at any moment. He didn’t look at Noctis, his dark eyes were directed to the far corner. “And now I’ve actually had a break from it all, a much longer one than I ever thought possible… ha, lucky me… and what- now it’s- it’s all gone”, the tears fell, “…everything”.

Now, his head hung low, the tears released racing down his cheeks freely. The picture before Noctis was fractured, beaten, weak and dead, a complete opposite to what Prompto usually was. He didn’t know how to heal him, what to say or do, he sat there in shocked silence letting the man cry, he kept the hold on his hand secure.

A faint sob came from Prompto, and Noctis felt like his entire world, his head, his heart had cracked into two.

“I – I’ve ruined – it’s all- it’s all- “. Another sob and Prompto seemed to give up on trying to speak.

Noctis couldn’t take it anymore and, without a moment’s notice, he let go of Prompto’s hand and wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling the blonde into tight hug. Despite the awkward angle, he kept his hold firm, and carefully ran his paws through the blonde hair in slow, comforting movements. Eventually, Prompto brought his own shaking arms around Noctis’ waist and rested his head just below the prince’s collarbone.

He let Prompto cry, whispering small comforts into his ear: _you’re ok, I’m here, I’m not going anywhere, everything’s alright, you’re safe_. He would hold onto the blonde as long as he needed him to, trying to help him however he could to ease the pain.

After a short while, the painfully broken sobs eased and Prompto’s breathing started to even out. Noctis felt Prompto pull away and didn’t stop him as he untucked himself from Noct’s chest and backed away just enough to look at him face to face. Noctis lowered his arms, but didn’t quite let go of Prompto completely, instead he gently wiped away the remaining tears and let his paws rest on Prompto’s arms that hadn’t stop holding onto Noct’s waist.

Prompto’s eyes were a little red, and still damp from the tears, yet they appeared more alive than when Noctis’ had answered the door to him, it brought a shaky smile to the prince’s lips. Those eyes stayed on his, and though they were no longer empty, Noctis couldn’t decipher what emotion hid amongst the combination of purple and blue.

The silence etched on, until Noctis said the only words on his mind, “Stay with me”. He didn’t know what happened to cause Prompto this much pain, not really. Especially since he only got a few vague words before the tears fell and nothing else mattered other than making them stop. For all he knew, Noctis himself could be the problem and that pain was caused by him somehow. He prayed that wasn’t the truth. The more logical reason would be that something happened when Prompto went back, and if that was true, then Noctis wanted to keep him away from there.

Prompto’s face settled into a frown, his eyes darted to the side, “I- I can’t”. He removed his arms and shuffled away from Noctis, leaning his head away from him as he sat with his hands clenched.

First, Noctis heart dropped and pain leaked through it, the words enough for disappointment and doubt to find their way in. Then, he spoke with what little courage he had left, “…why?”.

“Because…”, Prompto’s voice sounded hesitant and regretful, the words slowly making their way out, “if he looks for me and then… finds you, he’ll- “. He stopped talking and bit his lip.

“He knows who you are”, Prompto whispered.

Noctis heart stopped. His breathing quickened in pace, the panic rising in his chest. Someone knew, someone who shouldn’t, they were no longer safe, _his_ people weren’t safe.

The panic stayed in his rapidly beating heart, a feeling of betrayal and hurt entered alongside it, and when he spoke his voice was coarse, “why… why would you...”. Why would he tell someone? After _everything_ , why would he sell them out now? Denial, doubt, hurt, all of it was combined together in one confusing bundle, he didn’t know what to truly feel or believe.

A look of panic crossed Prompto’s eyes and he whipped his head back around to face him, “I _swear_ I didn’t tell him Noct! I wouldn’t- I would never do that…I hope you know that”, he murmured his last few words, his eyes returning to their position on the ground.

_Of course, I know._ And once his fear and panic had settled down, Noctis couldn’t believe he had even doubted the man for a second, for even considering the blonde would ever try to hurt them after all he had done for them. In his own stupidity, Noctis had caused him more pain in his clouded thoughts and unnecessary doubt.

“He said – he said that he knew who you were. It must’ve been before all this, before I even knew you existed, the bastard knew”, Prompto’s jaw clenched, his pained voice turning into a growl.

“Who… who is it, Prom?”.

“My step- “, Prompto stopped, his face morphing into a look like the words tasted bitter in his mouth, “… the man who ‘raised’ me, the name he was born with, or the name he told me he was born with, was Ardyn Izunia”.

…

_What_

_The man Prompto considered his family was…_

_The bastard who started all of this._

“Ardyn... You – you’re sure?”. Noctis felt a shiver run down his spine at the same time his blood boiled. The name was unique enough that it couldn’t have been anyone else. All this time, Ardyn had been living happily only a short distance away, mocking them with his existence as he knew they wouldn’t be able to survive for long. The fucker didn’t even attack, he just played the waiting game and left them to starve.

“Yeah, I’m sure”. Prompto looked back up at him; a frown deep on his face, his eyebrows drawn tight, a fire hidden beneath his eyes. “He wrecked everything; destroying my – the house, screaming about…you”, Prompto finished with a mere whisper.

Barely holding himself together, Noctis drew in a deep breath, not knowing which emotion was stronger; the anger or despair of hearing more and more about the monster that had destroyed his home. “What did he say?”. That _thing_ had no right to speak of his or anyone else’s name in the castle, and whatever vile words he spat to Prompto, Noctis felt compelled to know.

“That’s the part I don’t get”, Prompto mumbled softly, dishevelled hair falling over his eyes which weren’t quite looking at Noct’s own. “He said his life, his family, it was all destroyed, and, for whatever reason, he blames _everyone_ here”.

“His life was destroyed?! HIS LIFE?!”. After everything _he_ had done, all the pain he had brought upon Noctis and his people, and Ardyn had the nerve to- to. _Bastard._ “He wrecked _my_ kingdom! He killed hundreds of _my_ people and chased away many more! HE TURNED US ALL INTO THESE- THESE THINGS!”. Noctis stood, looking down at his beastly form in hatred before returning his gaze to Prompto. The blonde sat there, his eyes concerned and shocked all at once, his mouth slightly agape as if he was going to try to respond. Noctis didn’t give him the chance.

“That _monster_ cursed us all; families, children, _MY FRIENDS_ AND HE LEFT US TO DIE!”, Noctis paws trembled at his sides, his legs feeling like they couldn’t hold his weight as he swayed a little side to side, he could feel tears brimming at the corner of his eyes, “I DIDN’T DESTROY HIS LIFE, HE DESTROYED MINE! I- I- He- “.

Noctis stopped to catch his breath, his loud outburst causing his heart to beat forcefully in his chest as his breaths came short and fast.

“I never believed him”.

The words caught his attention. Prompto moved to stand and slowly approached him, he was frowning, the surprise gone and the worry in full view within his eyes. “I don’t know what happened in Ardyn’s past, but I know for a fact that you had nothing to do with it, no one here did. You’re not that kind of person, and I can’t believe for a second, not even when it's yelled or screamed at me, that anyone here is capable of doing something like that”.

He took Noctis’ paws in his, his face scrunched up, “And if I had known what he had done to you before, I would’ve dealt with him a long time ago”. Prompto’s face turned softer as he gazed directly into Noctis’ eyes, the bitter hate from his words forgotten.

Noctis sighed. His breathing calmer, as was his head and his anger had quelled. The touch of Prompto’s calloused warm hands in his own offering him a feeling of contentment. Gods he was such an idiot, Prompto was hurting just as much as he was, and he had yelled at him just like that bastard had, like he had done something wrong. When all he had ever done was the trust the man who must’ve been like a father to him, like a family should. The guilt stung.

“Sorry…”, what for specifically? The yelling, the accusations, the doubt, the hurt. All of it. Everything.

Prompto chuckled, and the fact it wasn’t empty like before put some joy into Noct’s own chest, “Don’t be. You haven’t done anything wrong”.

“Right… except for all the screaming”, Noctis’ lips lifted into a smirk, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He tried to chuckle, though to him it sounded faker than he would’ve liked.

Prompto let out a small laugh of his own, and it sounded so much better to Noct’s ears than his own attempt. The man’s smile was small but no less breath-taking and bright than all his others, and this one looked real. “So, what happens now?”.

In his daze, Noctis almost missed Prompto’s question; the words brought him back down to crushing reality as only one line repeated in his mind, _I don’t know._ Because, even with Prompto’s knowledge and the news that the castle’s most well-known, vile, nefarious enemy was near didn’t change the fact that there was very little they could do about him. They were still cursed, unable to walk among the streets and find the prick themselves; what would they do if they found him? Imprison him? Kill him? But… blue and purple eyes looked back at him, waiting for his answer, could they kill the man who raised Prompto? Would – would the blonde ever allow it? Would he agree to it?

Would he ever forgive Noctis for it?

And that’s just if they actually _could_ do something about Ardyn, it’s not like they could all march to the village. They be killed on the spot. There again, they might already be dead. Ardyn could be on his way right now, the beasts used as his army, ready to kick the castle’s doors down and kill anyone in sight. He’ll probably save a particularly slow and gruesome death for Noctis himself. If this was the case, then time was short, and they were running out of it. Maybe it was all hopeless, with nothing they _could _do coming to Noctis’ mind and ideas of what Ardyn might actually be doing right now, they were all doomed to his wrath. Every single one of them… Except, blonde hair, blue and purple shining eyes, scattered freckles, bright smile. Prompto. He wasn’t trapped here, he could roam the streets, be free. Noctis could send him away right now, far from here, let him find a life somewhere else. He can save him. But, he would lose him. Like a knife, the thought produced a sharp pain in his chest.__

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Either way, there didn’t appear to be a happy ending to this, no matter what happened. No ideas or plans entered his mind, only hesitation and fear of the unknown future.

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It was too late at night for this shit.

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“I dunno”, Noctis answered truthfully, “We can talk it out with everyone in the morning”. If he couldn’t think of anything, perhaps Ignis or Luna could, they were always the brains of the operation.

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“Alright…”. Prompto slowly let go of Noctis paw. “Well, I guess I- “.

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“Stay”.

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Prompto quirked an eyebrow up; the smile gone replaced with a reluctant frown, he rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not sure that’s- “.

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“Please, Prom”, Noctis pleaded, pride be damned, “I don’t- please don’t go back there. Stay with me?”.

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A little twitch in his lips, before Prompto smile returned, he looked across at Noct, almost looking as lively as his usual self. “Alright, I’ll stay”.

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Noctis couldn’t stop the giant smile that spread onto his face.

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Despite Prompto’s protests, Noctis persuaded him to share his bed with him like they did last time, insisting time after time again that there was plenty of room and no, it won’t bother him. Even if they do cuddle again in the night, he didn’t voice that part out loud though.

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Once both were changed; Prompto borrowing the same pair of trousers like last time and Noctis in his own simple white shirt and trousers, they settled into bed. And this time, Noctis didn’t hide himself away in the furthest corner. Face to face, Noctis’ eyes darted to every corner, every feature of Prompto’s face. Those perfectly coloured eyes were struggling to stay open, but they were staring right at him and Noctis found himself struggling to breath.

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This wasn’t normal, was it?

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The more he looked the worse it got. And those lighted eyes, that were dead set on Noct’s own, made him freeze. Noct quickly darted his sight to Prompto’s lips and back up again, those same eyes seemed to follow his.

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“You ok?”, Prompto whispered, his voice almost husky.

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Noctis barely managed to mumble out a small, “yeah”.

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It was like time had slowed down. No matter how tired Noct felt his rapidly beating heart wouldn’t slow and he couldn’t urge his eyes to close.

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_…Was this?_

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During their time together had he always been this conscious of Prompto’s movements? his actions? the way he looked at him? It was getting harder and harder to breath, Noctis was contemplating whether he should turn over and go to sleep or move closer. Luckily, Prompto made the choice for him.

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Prompto shuffled slightly closer to Noctis so there was basically no space between them. He steadily lifted his hand and gently cuffed Noct’s cheek, his eyes darting across Noctis’ face with uncertainty. Finally, able to breath better, Noctis leaned into the touch as he followed Prompto’s wandering gaze.

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Leisurely, Prompto’s thumb glided up and down Noct’s cheek, he hesitantly lifted himself off the bed slightly, so his head was hovering over Noctis’. “Can I…”.

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_…Oh no._

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Noctis laid there frozen, not sure if he should trust his voice. His head was a muddled mixture of confusion, one side battling over the next so much so that he couldn’t think properly.

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After a few heavy seconds, Prompto slowly leaned in, giving Noctis enough time to push him away if he wanted to. Not that he would. He felt Prompto’s soft breath over his lips, and he swore he could hear Prompto’s heart in his chest, beating just as fast as Noctis’. Then, Prompto closed the gap between them, tenderly leaving a short, light kiss and pulling away.

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If Noctis’ face got any redder, he was certain he would combust. The kiss was so short, he hadn’t had time to react to it, yet it was enough it make his heart leap in his chest.

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With a caring look, Prompto’s eyes darted over his face once more, as if searching for a reason to stop. Noctis would’ve used his words if he could. Whatever the blonde saw must’ve convinced him enough for him to kiss Noct once more, Noctis gasped at the returning feeling.

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This time, it lasted longer. It started as a simple brush of the lips, the same tender touch as before. Once Noctis brain unfreeze itself, he closed his eyes and tried his best to reciprocate the kiss and follow Prompto’s movements. It was like nothing he had ever felt before; his heart still as loud as ever, his face hot with flush, Prompto’s hand still gently cupping his jaw, the comforting warmth of the man above him encasing Noctis in a safe, content space. Noctis moved his arms to wrap around Prompto’s neck, his paws threading their way through the soft golden locks, the action producing a satisfied ‘hmm’ against his lips.

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Out of breath, Noctis had to pull back, breaking the kiss. Lost in a daze, he stared into Prompto’s hooded eyes, slowly breathing in and out. And after a few seconds of air the blonde wasted no time in diving back into the kiss, more confidently this time as took Noctis’ bottom lip between his teeth, nipping gently, then sucking. Not able to stop it, a moan escaped Noctis’ lips as Prompto continued his onslaught. Lost in the kiss, Noctis tugged at Prompto's hair, urging the blonde to be closer, if that was even possible at this point. No matter how many times Prompto enclosed Noct's lips in his own; nibbling, sucking, tugging them, it never seemed to be enough for Noctis. And when Prompto eventually pulled back, all Noctis wanted was for those lips to return to his. He opened his eyes, seeing Prompto look back at him with a sweet, almost playful smirk and soft, adoring eyes, if a little uncertain, that, for whatever reason, Noctis was lucky enough to be directed at him. A brisk peck was left on his lips before Prompto withdrew again, still smiling. Noctis own smile shone on his face, a happiness in his heart that he hadn’t felt for a very long time. And it was all because of him. Noctis didn’t know whether he should be terrified or delighted as a thought came to his head.

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_I think I’m in love with you._

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUDES! LOOK AT ALL THOSE WORDS
> 
> i hope yall happy, i gave u what u wanted.
> 
> Next chapter, the story continues - what could go wrong?
> 
> Thanks for all who have stuck with me for the whole fic, i think this one is gonna be a bit longer than my first one. But seriously guys, to whoever's still reading this junk, thanks a bunch! THAT INCLUDES ANY SILENT READERS, KUDOS LEAVERS AND COMMENTERS, I LOVE U ALL EQUALLY
> 
> anyway u guys kno the routine by now:
> 
> Thanks for reading anyways, if ya want, leave a kudos or comment they really help.
> 
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> Come talk to meh on tumblr.
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> Is there something ya want me to write? An idea for a short fic i could do? then send those ma way too


	21. Not enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry, I’m such an idiot, I’m so, sorry. Please don’t cry for me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soz for any mistakes  
> enjoyyyyy

 

Comfort wasn’t something Prompto was used to. Back home, the only single intimacy he had was a friendly side hug from Cindy that lasted seconds or a warm pat on the back from the man he thought was family. Never anything more than that. Only one other person had tried to impose themselves into his circle of comfort; Cora. Every hug was awkward, she was always more enthusiastic about it than himself, every attempted kiss on the lips or cheeks would always end up with him skilfully dodging them without revealing how much he hated it. That was all he had ever gotten and, until now, it was all he had ever needed.

Then there was Noctis.

A man he had fought and argued with; one that had been so stubborn, cold and out of reach, any proper communication, or dare say friendship, was miles away. But, the walls around him hadn’t been as strong as Prompto initially thought. With time, Prompto understood more; about Noctis’ past, his curse, the blame, and, most importantly, the reason those walls had been put up in the first place. He was almost grateful to the beasts that had attacked them in the woods, the ones that had injured him and therefore forced him to stay the very first night here. _Almost_ grateful, his blood still boiled at the thought of what would’ve happened had he not been there in time. Most of it was past him now.

That next day, when he had actually spent some time with the man without the arguments, he found himself not wanting to leave. That was where it all began really.

They had hugged goodbye, mainly because both knew they didn’t know when they would see each other again. Who would’ve thought it would be the next day. Still, though brief, the hug was _nice,_ it reminded him of the welcome hugs from Cindy after they hadn’t seen each other for a long time. Yet, it also felt a bit different.

It was the start of something different.

Not that he knew at the time, but that closeness to Noctis only grew and Prompto had felt helpless to stop it. So, he didn’t try to.

When he should have.

Because now he knew how he felt; no hiding from it or brushing it off as something else, it was too strong to do that. And, with a little bit of luck in his chest, Prompto assumed Noct feels the same. He shouldn’t, by gods, he shouldn’t, but that little soft look in the dark-haired man’s blue eyes was unmistakeable. Prompto would have to be more than an oblivious idiot not to notice it. He had kissed him, and Noct hadn’t pushed him away. It had been everything Prompto had ever imagined; Noct’s soft lips on his own, the cursed hands no less soft knotting themselves in his hair as he pulled him closer, the little groans of satisfaction and need. It had been everything. And he was a fool for accepting it so easily.

After everything Noctis had been through, Prompto should have never, ever touched him like that, _feel_ for him like that. At the end of the day, he never had the right to. One simple, painfully obvious reason should’ve controlled him to stop this happening:

_You can **never** make him happy._

Guilt; it was all he could feel when those words kept engraving onto his brain. Thoughts, feelings, everything being controlled by six small words. Words that were the kind of truth you wished was a lie, but no amount of self-assurance could blind you to it.

_You’re not good enough._

All the pain, the hurt, the fear, there was no way for him to stop it. There was no way for him to help. Cursed, cast aside, near death, Noct had been through it all, without someone being there for him, and he deserved someone who could take it all away. Ease his pain, make him feel wanted.

_He deserves a man better than you. One that can break the curse and save him. Not the coward who ran._

Warm back pressed against his chest, his arms encircled around a soft waist, he was so tempted to let go and leave the man he was only going to hurt anyway. Eyes kept closed, he ran through every scenario, every thought, pros and cons flying towards him as he considered running once more. This time to protect the one he loved most.

If he left, he could go after Ardyn himself, finish the man off before he got here and restarted a war. With no worries of his people’s safety, Noctis could continue to live his life without him. Someone else would have to find them eventually, _right?_ Who could actually help these people, break the curse and free Noct. There had to be somebody. Somebody better than him. Until then, the food he initially provided should last them months, the threat of starvation wouldn’t loom over their heads for a long time. And if no one came before then, he would just have to make anonymous drop offs of food at their door and keep running away.

_Coward_

The thought made his brow scrunch up and his hold tighten.

_He deserves better._

And that made him let go.

Firm hands prevented his arms from losing grip completely, as Noct brought Prompto’s arms back round him. Surprised, Prompto let his arms still, keeping them where Noct wanted as the other man took his hand and gripped tight.

“Noct?”. His voice was a faint whisper, barely travelling through the dead silent room. Uncertain whether the man was truly awake.

“Stay”, a sleepy voice answered, the grip on his hand tightened.

That hand kept him anchored, it was a comfort blanket, a soft hold that made everything seem so much simpler. If only it was that easy. He gave one final squeeze, burying his nose into Noct’s neck, breathing in deep, then removing himself.

He let go and moved onto his back, staring up at the ceiling, his hand rubbing his eyes before stretching out his hair.

A shuffle beside him; Prompto craned his neck to the left to see Noctis looking back at him, his eyes were just about open, and he was biting his bottom lip. And Prompto felt an unbelievable need to reach out and stop it before he broke skin with his fang. Somehow, he restrained himself.

_He’d be better off without you._

“What…where you going?”, the same little tired voice spoke and Prompto hated how he could see the shine of confused worry in Noct’s beautiful blue eyes.

“I – I can’t stay”. _I’m so sorry._ “I can’t do this”.

That woke him up; Noct’s eyes flung wide open, pain filling them as he took a short, shuddering breath. He looked down, “I see”.

Control lost by the broken look in his eyes, Prompto turned on his side. Face to face, he reached across and took hold of Noct’s hand, gripping it like the other had done before. He was surprised Noct didn’t shake him off. “It’s not for the reason you think”.

It was like he could see inside Noctis’ head; he knew what conclusion the prince must’ve jumped to, the harmful thoughts clouding his mind that made him shrink and look so vulnerable lying there with his face tucked away from view. _He’s blaming himself, he’s blaming what the curse did to him._

_He thinks I don’t-_

 

 “I- I thought you- I thought we…”, Noctis trailed off.

Unable to stop himself; Prompto released Noct’s hand and cupped his cheek, he gently lifted the prince’s gaze to his own. Feeling his heart tug with guilt when he saw the tears threatening to fall. _He should look at you with hate, all the pain your putting him through, why is he the one looking guilty?_

“I- I can’t make you happy… “, using his thumb, he stroked Noct’s cheek back and forth, “I’m so, so sorry”

Confusion stared back at him, “What do- what are you”, he asked slow, uncertain.

It was hard to speak, it was even harder to find the words to explain. He didn’t want Noct to blame himself, he didn’t want those eyes to fill with tears, he didn’t want to leave the man broken on his own. If he had split; ran far away, never looking back, Noctis would’ve woken to an empty bed, no words of comfort or reason why, he’d be alone. Since he had already lost so much, could he take the hurt of someone else going too? Just the image of Noct’s confused face searching for him, slowly turning into a look of pain and loss, made Prompto entirely hate himself.

_I’m sorry, I’m such an idiot, I’m so, sorry. Please don’t cry for me._

“I can’t save you, the- the curse; I know how much it hurts you and I just- “, he bit his lip, he didn’t have the right to cry, “you- you deserve someone who- who can make the pain go, who can free you from this- I- I… I just want you to be happy”, he finished with a defeated, tired sigh. This was beyond difficult. He hated the truth, and the words, and his head screaming at him two conflicting things, and he didn’t know which was better or worse:

Leave him in pain on his own.

Or never be enough to make his life complete and only disappoint him.

Was it selfish to stay or leave?

Why did he never- how could he have been so selfish to- why was there-

“I never expected you to”

His thoughts halted, Noctis’ words cutting through them, making it impossible for Prompto to form any coherent sounds. Communication wasn’t happening, so he stayed still; his mouth partly agape as though it wanted to speak, and kept his eyes on Noct, who only looked back with soft kindness. Guilt and sadness still lurked beneath that kindness, but it wasn’t as bold or prominent as before.

Noctis closed his eyes, heaving a sigh, “This curse… it’s- it’s my burden to bear and no sudden miracle is gonna happen to change that”. Those blue eyes came back out, the tears practically gone, and some kind of calmness replaced them. “You’re the one who helped me accept that”.

Feeling a need to say something, Prompto interjected, “Noct I- “.

“No one makes me happier than you”, Noct continued, Prompto’s lousy excuse to speak brushed off without a hesitant second. “And I… I don’t want you to go”. There was a slight, slow way Noctis spoke those last few words, like he was hesitating on saying them.

“But if you want to, then I won’t stop you”.

He’d never be given a choice before. His whole life had been mapped out by a mad man. Punishment would ensure if he ever questioned it or did something else. This time, he had a choice; one he didn’t have to think about for even a second before his mind already knew what he wanted.

Prompto smiled, he could tell it wasn’t whole, it didn’t fit completely right on his face. “If I stay, I can’t promise a happily ever after”. _But I will try my hardest to make you smile._

Grinning back, Noctis responded with brighter eyes and a less broken shadow, “That’s fine by me”.

Seeing the light back in Noct, helped Prompto’s unnatural smile turn into a full-blown grin. Maybe he could save them, and maybe he couldn’t. But nothing was stopping him from trying. And if him agreeing to stay here alone could bring a smile like that on Noct’s face, he had to be doing something right.

“So, you’ll stay?”, Noctis asked, the worry and fear gone.

Something warm bloomed in Prompto’s chest; he slid his arm around Noct’s waist, finding himself shuffling as close as he could to the man. “I love you”.

Noctis’ eyes widened to a comically large size, his surprise earning a chuckle from Prompto’s lips, before returning to their usual state. “I’ll take that as a yes”, Noct chuckled back, a smile kept on his face.

_Gods,_ that smile could’ve killed him right then and there, and he would’ve died happy. Prompto made himself promise to try and bring that smile out as often as he could. Even with the looming threat of Ardyn charging here to initiate an attack. Let him try and hurt these people, Prompto would take him down before the man could lay a finger on them. And if even a scratch was laid on Noct, hell would be unleashed on that monster. Father figure or not. Whatever they shared in the past was dead, nothing more than bittersweet memories. Prompto had to wonder whether the man was faking it most of the time; did he ever care? Or was Prompto just another puppet to be played with. Not that it mattered. The only thing on his mind now was keeping everyone here safe and, if he was lucky, find a way to end the pain once and for all.

He would try. For him, he would do everything he could.

For now, they had this. These moments where it was just them, no one else and nothing else mattered. Whatever chaos follows in the future, would be dealt with then.

Heart warm, Prompto lifted his head and left a soft, lingering kiss on Noct’s lips.

A creak sounded to the side as the room’s door opened. Prompto’s head snapped up and Noct’s followed, their eyes dead set on the open doorway. Where a grinning Iris stood.

_Oh boy_

“I knew it!”, she joyfully exclaimed, her smile lodged permanently in her features.

Noctis sat up, he looked toward Iris with wide, surprised eyes, “Iris, it’s not- “.

She shook her head, “No point in denying it Noct. I already had a feeling _something_ was going on”.

_Then you knew much more than I did._ Prompto kept his thoughts to himself. The shock of someone walking in on them slowly fading, but the embarrassment lasted longer. He joined Noctis in sitting up and watch the man’s face turn ruby red. Prompto’s own felt pretty hot too.

Noctis tried to hide away in his hands, both covering his face as he bowed his head down. “What do you want?”, he mumbled.

Their embarrassment must’ve been amusing to Iris as her smile only got wider, little fangs poking through, her yellow eyes shining in delight. “I was just gonna get you; Luna’s calling another meeting and wants you there”. She placed her hands on her hips and gave a little wink, “Though… if you guys want some more alone time, I’m sure we can- “.

“Stop talking, please”, Noctis groaned. Though he still tried to hide his face, Prompto saw the tips of his ears turn a deeper shade of red.

“Alright, alright”, she raised her hands in surrender, backing out of the doorway, “see you guys there”. She gave one final smile and closed the door behind her.

Echoes of footsteps could be heard, getting quieter and quieter the longer they waited. After they had completely silenced, Prompto sighed and turned his attention to the still hidden prince. Smiling at the prince’s antics, Prompto reached out and let his fingers get lost in Noctis’ fur on his back.

“Come on dude, that wasn’t so bad”.

Noctis only mumbled something unintelligible in response, still not coming out of hidden hunched over pose.

“Wow… I didn’t think I was that much of an embarrassment to you”.

Noct’s head whipped up, so fast it was surprising it didn’t hurt, and had a worried, apologetic look on his face, “That’s not what I meant I- “. Noctis stopped mid-sentence when Prompto couldn’t stop an amused snicker escaping his mock hurt persona, his apology gone and his face now sour, “You prick”, he grumbled.

Prompto could only smile at him. Moving across so he could grab Noct’s side and pull him back down to the bed, resuming their spooning session.

“Meeting, remember?”, Noctis pointed out, yet he couldn’t have been that keen as he didn’t push away Prompto’s arms around him, in fact, he snuggled closer to the blonde.

“Pretty sure Iris said we could have some _alone_ time. I think we got a couple minutes spare”

Underneath his arms, Prompto could feel Noctis huff in protest, though he still made no move to escape.

“Fine, but I ain’t taking the blame if we’re late”.

Warm and comfy, and _definitely_ considering falling back asleep, he couldn’t care less. “Fine by me”.

They stayed like that for longer than they should’ve; Prompto was fairly certain Noct had gone back to sleep, his chest rising in a rhythmical pattern, he made little to no noise. Prompto felt stuck in the moment, it was like time had stopped and nothing else was taking place in the world; some kind of weird, calming nothingness. Blissful in every way. And Prompto wouldn’t trade It for the world. He was never given comfort, he never got use to the little he received. But, here with Noct. This was something he could happily get use to and appreciate every second of it. It was perfect.

Until they managed to get to the meeting and ended up being half an hour late; Ignis gave them the scolding of a lifetime while Gladio and Iris had the biggest, cockiest smirks on their faces, and Luna simply waited, smiling. Noctis had thrown him a glare, his face saying _I told you so_ with the upmost irritation. Two things were learnt from that lecture; one, never be late _again_ and two:

Never mess with Ignis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> late but it's here
> 
> boom
> 
> Thanks for reading anyways, if ya want, leave a kudos or comment they really help.
> 
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> Come talk to meh on tumblr.
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> Is there something ya want me to write? An idea for a short fic i could do? then send those ma way too


	22. Celebrations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The future looks a little brighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading  
> Soz for any mistakes

 

The next couple of days went by fairly normal. Noctis informed Ignis, Luna, Gladio and Iris about Ardyn during the meeting, all four agreeing they should take precautions and be ready for the future. Walls were built stronger than they had been during the beast attack, weapons were manufactured, and volunteers were trained to be ready for a fight. Plans were made should an attack happen, and the arguments of offense or defence and whether they should wait for the fight or charge to Ardyn now were endless. In a way, it was like planning for a war. One that may come soon. Until then, other than the precautions set, life went by as usual. Most days were spent rebuilding the castle; which was agreed as a top priority regardless of how they should act in this war, it didn’t take too long before the old place was looking like itself again. Majority of people worked days and nights to get their home restored to its former glory, it actually looked better than its previous state, others helped build defences and weapons to keep it that way. Noctis mainly spent his time rebuilding the upper room, returning it to the beautiful place it was when he had needed an escape.

And Prompto stuck by his side through it all.

Together, the room became whole again; walls had been reinforced, any scraps and rubbish had been chucked away, and the interior also had a makeover – new carpets and a splosh of paint, found in the basement, the furniture that survived was polished and cleaned until it looked fit for royalty once more. As a finishing touch, Prompto had privately got some help to restore the old painting that had been left to rot and had presented it to Noctis after they had finished with the room, saying with a soft, understanding smile, “It’s up to you whether we hang this up or not”. The painting now had a bronze frame; decorated with black lines and swirls, cleaned so you could see your face in it. It was perfect. Noctis had hugged the man in thanks, beyond grateful for what he had done, then Prom had helped him hang it above the restored fireplace for all to see, no longer would it hide away in shame.

Now, whenever they had free time, Noctis found himself with Prompto in that room; lounging on the couch, not doing much other than keeping close in each other’s company and gazing at the night sky. Noctis often caught himself gazing at the painting, smiling, it almost felt like his dad was here with him. In spirit, perhaps he had always been here.

A week passed and no news of a march or sighting of Ardyn had been reported. Despite his protests, Prompto had somehow convinced Noctis that he must go out into the woods and keep an eye out every so often, warning him that, “It’s best we know when he’s coming”. Noctis let him, after he promised he wouldn’t attack if he spotted the monster and would stay out of sight. The last thing he wanted was for Prompto to get hurt again, or worse. The lack of activity should’ve been a relief, but instead Noctis felt uneasy for the first few days. Until he noticed what had happened to his once dying home.

People were happier; children were playing in the hallways, their claws scampering along the carpets, while his older citizens had been talking less about the despair of the future and more about the life they live now. It wasn’t just the makeover of the castle that made things seem brighter, more colourful, the people’s hopes had been restored, somehow. It was like a switch had been flipped, and light filled his home again, almost randomly. With the news of Ardyn fast approaching (maybe), that Luna had insisted on telling everyone, Noctis couldn’t fathom why his people were happy now, when they hadn’t been only a few weeks ago. How had the fear not come back?

He had talked about it to Prom one day, who had settled him slightly by stating, “Well you’re happy, right? Why can’t they be?”.

But he had a reason to be happy, a reason his life had improved dramatically after all these years, a reason to feel and enjoy again. And that reason had spoken those very words. Though how comforting that answer had been; so sweet and simple, it didn’t answer the biggest question. Noctis had his reason to be happy, what was his people’s?

Later, he had spoken to Luna. She had smiled, kindly and with understanding, no mocking in her voice as she said, “They are following in the footsteps of their leader”.

And somehow that short answer was enough.

To add to it, that night he and Prom had laid close together on the sofa, both talking about nothing, the warmth from the fireplace a blanket settled over them and producing an orange glow that shined on his father’s painting, the room decorated with the stars and the happier parts of his past bringing a feeling of tranquillity and peace. Yet, his mind had still been rattling when he had brought up Luna’s words to Prom, he had only reinforced what she said, “Makes sense. You were a right miserable bastard when I got here, and if you’re down in the dumps, other people will be affected too. Especially with your status. After all, why have hope if your leader has none”.

Noctis had almost smacked him for the insult, but the logical and wisdom of the response took him by surprise, so much so he didn’t have chance to. It was unexpected of Prompto to say something so mature, serious, knowledgeable, yet, at the same time, it fitted his personality perfectly. Always knowing the right thing to say, to lift Noct’s spirits back up. Ridding the tiniest things that plagued and bounced in and out of his mind. Even so, Noctis mocked him for it, “Look at you, being all high and mighty. Since when did you start having a brain?”.

Prompto hadn’t hesitated like he had to hit Noctis for that one.

Sometime during the third week, Gladio had approached himself and Prompto and had apologised for his behaviour back at dinner. The big guy had already given Noctis a small sorry, forced out of him by Ignis, and they had been acting civilly ever since, with time they were even partly friendly. Now, Gladio insisted to apologised once more, on his own terms, to both Prompto and Noctis together.

“Not gonna lie, I was being a bit of a prick, and I am sorry for that. Noct, what I said to you was completely out of line, and Prompto, I’m sorry I dragged you into it when you tried to defend the poor kid”.

Both Noctis and Prompto had brushed off the apology, Prompto clarifying that he had already forgiven him and what was in the past was in the past. The big guy had smiled, and asked Prompto to take a quick walk with him. Confused but with little reason not to, Prompto had turned to him, an eyebrow raised, and a questioning look on his face. Noctis had waved him away, insisting he should go and watched the two head down one of the hallways, he saw both smile just as they disappeared from view; Prompto with a brighter and in some way, relieved smile, while Gladio had a small smirk. As soon as they left, Noctis relaxed against the sofa, his arms and legs digging into the velvet soft cushions, his mind wondering what the two were discussing to have such smiles on their faces. Then he noticed, for the first time, Ignis standing in the corner giving him, what Noctis assumed was, a nod of approval before walking away.

Shortly after, Prompto returned, a little spring in his step as he joined Noct back on the sofa.

“What was that about?”, Noctis asked, shuffling himself so he could see right into those bright eyes.

Prompto chuckled, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”, he said with a grin.

By the time the third week had ended, Prompto had come to know most of Noctis’ people, perhaps even more than Noct himself. After the upstairs’ room was completed, Prompto and he had wandered around the castle helping anyone with their jobs of remaining construction work or little day to day tasks, like cleaning or washing up. Personally, Noctis hated the chores, he didn’t mind helping but why did it have to be cleaning? Prompto, however, seemed just pleased to help, chatting idly with his citizens as he offered his services to whoever needed them. The people were in awe of the man, after everything he had done for them, witnessing him saving them numerous times while also providing the food they need to survive. Prompto was seen as a hero. Not that he noticed.

With everyone’s help; every room was restored, every nook and cranny were cleaned, and every defence and weapons had been built, and it had only taken three weeks. Spirits were high, so were the people’s hopes, and Noctis found himself, day by day, less worrying about the future and more enjoying the present. Especially with his new special light in his life.

Now it was all over, Luna called one final meeting about the hard work and commitment everyone had put in these past weeks. It was held in the main entrance room, crowds were large and chattering, until Luna took stage at the front door.

“Thank you all for coming. I would like to start by saying: thank you, to every single one of you. Your efforts have made this castle out home once more”. She paused, letting the words sink in, her face held a soft, part sad smile. “I know it hasn’t been easy for us, all of us have struggled. But seeing all you today, filled with hope and love again, leads me to believe that there is a bright future ahead of us, and with have all taken the first step in the right direction. To celebrate this occasion, some of you might be aware, Iris and a small team have been planning a celebration ball this Friday. And I hope you will all do me the honour of attending this marvellous occasion.”

People hurriedly exited the room, excitement building, their steps skipping. Noctis’ home hadn’t had a ball or any kind of party in years, not since the curse and start of the war, not since he was a small child.

“Wow, that was one hell of an announcement”, Prompto smiled, a little shine of excitement in his eyes, “Never been to ball before, this will be fun!”

“Yeah, guess so”. He honestly couldn’t recall much from the few balls he had attended, but with Prompto this thrilled about it, Noctis found himself smiling at the idea too.

Plus, if he stuck with Prom all the way through it, how bad could it be?

 

With only a few days left to prepare for it, Noctis didn’t see much of Iris or even Gladio and Ignis since the party announcement. Whatever design/ planning team they had created must’ve been working non-stop for Noctis to see this little of them. A lot of effort must be going into this, the prince was surprised no one had forced him to help out with it all, considering his responsibilities and status. But not one person asked him to lift a finger, and Noctis was genuinely pleased about this.

This peace and quiet didn’t last.

The day before the ball Iris came crashing into their room, jumping in joy about the party, her little fangs on show within her giant smile, before throwing some clothes and shoes at them, that nearly hit Noctis right in the eye, saying to try them on and that a tailor would adjust them if they didn’t fit. Then, she burst out of the room as quickly as she had entered, leaving the door swinging helplessly.  

Noctis picked up the suit nearest to him and dreaded how it would feel and look. He squinted his eyes at the dark material, frowning at the thought of its cloth touching his skin, or fur in this case. Suits materials were always so uncomfortable and scratchy, and the formality of it all got on his nerves immensely. He could never relax or stretch with a suit on; they were tight and were fitted too accurately to his measurements, not allowing any space for comfort. He flipped the suit to the back and then repeated to the front, taking note of the tie hanging around the jacket’s neck. Next to him, he could see Prompto doing the same; looking up and down his own suit with an unreadable expression on his face, blank eyes with a slight frown.

“Brilliant”, Noctis groaned in annoyance, placing the suit to the side where Iris had originally flung it.

He saw Prompto’s face lift up into a smirk, “What’s with the moaning and groaning, not looking forward to the party?”, he asked, turning away from the suit and facing Noct instead, a little mischievous glint in his eye and a definite mocking tone to his voice which Noctis _did not_ appreciate.

“It’s not that”, Noctis started to explain, hating how petty his voice sounded, “It’s not the party, it’s these damn suits. They’re gonna make me uncomfortable all night”.

“You could always wear a dress”.

“Not funny”.

Prompto chuckled, “Come on dude, it was a little funny”, he paused, probably waiting for a smile or reaction from Noctis, the prince purposefully didn’t give him the satisfaction. “At least try it on, you might be surprised”.

“I won’t be”, he argued back, picking the suit up and stomping to the bathroom to get changed and prove a point. It was petty and childlike, he knew, but it was justified. When he was a child, Noctis remembered that, even at an early age, he had been forced to wear these devil clothes and hated every minute of it. They were always restricting; the material was never soft, and the tie chocked his neck every time he breathed. It was literal hell.

Still, he removed his clothes and begun putting the dark suit on. The shirt wasn’t too horrible; it was plain white with long sleeves and easily slide onto his arms. The trousers were dark red, maroon to be exact, accompanied with a black belt with a gold buckle. His jacket was the same colour, long sleeved and with gold buttons, which he kept undone. He perched himself on the edge of the bath, surprised how much room the suit gave him to move, and put on the black, leather shoes that had been specially designed to fit his paws, without making him look ridiculous. Then, he stood and added the finishing touch, which was the worst part of all the suit; the tie. It was black in colour and a pain to put on, Noctis struggling to recall how his father had shown him to do it, it was even harder with hand-like paws. At least his weren’t thick and unnaturally large like an actual animals’ paw, the human shape helped a little otherwise it would’ve been impossible to do this, whether he remembered what he was taught or not. After a few painful minutes of tying to figure the damn thing out, without tearing it with his claws, he took a look at himself in the mirror. He looked… _alright_ , he guessed, the suit fitted well enough with no oddly bigger or smaller parts that would deem it uncomfortable. Ok, so maybe earlier he had been exaggerating a bit about the suit. It actually felt quite nice, the material wasn’t rough, and the tie didn’t kill him.

And he looked more human than he had done for a long time.

A sense of nostalgia took over him, seeing himself dressed up, remembering his father helping him fit into a tiny suit and then accompanying him to the party with one of his own, a big smile on his face when he saw the people’s joyful expressions in their own party wear. Those times had always been the happiest he had ever seen his people, and the nights always felt like they could last forever. Then, it all just disappeared.

No more parties or balls, no more happy faces, no more suits, no more king. No more dad.

Before he could process it, Noctis felt something wet run down his cheek, and looking in the mirror he saw his eyes had filled with water ready to spill. He couldn’t tell if they were happy or sad tears; whether they were from the good memories or the bad end. Not even his own emotions were clear. It was all just bittersweet.

Lost in thought, he almost jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked in the mirror to now see two faces; one, his own red crying mess, the other the concerned face of Prompto, who was wearing his own suit as far as Noctis could tell from the small reflection he could see. Reluctantly, he turned from the mirror to the actual man beside him and let himself be pulled into those arms while a hand softly wiped away the tears.

A few moments of silence past, Noctis’ small sniffing and sobs filling the void, until Prompto spoke quietly in his ear, “The suit that bad?”. His voice had a recognisable comical tone, with enough kindness and light to give Noctis some comfort, it made him give a light chuckle ripple from his throat.

“Something like that”.

Prompto’s arms tightened around him, “Well, if it makes you feel better, you look pretty damn good in a suit”.

“Yeah?”, Noctis asked, his tears had stopped, and he pulled away from Prompto’s hold. Finally seeing the man in front of him in full view and-

_Holy shit_

Noctis froze; he couldn’t move his joints, he could feel his mouth hanging open slightly and he couldn’t stop his eyes from gliding all over the man in front of him, taking in every inch and detail of him and imprinting it in his mind. Prompto wore a black shirt, tight enough that he might as well be wearing nothing at all, every muscle, every toned part of him was visible under the shirt, and the contrast between the black against his skin was perfect. Black suited him well. The sleeves were rolled to his elbows his built arms still connected lightly to Noctis’ waist. His trousers were dark green and were slim fitted to his legs, defining their shape. Like Noctis, he also wore a black belt, but his had a silver buckle. Prompto also wore a dark green tie, done up quite smartly, and black, leather shoes. Though there was no jacket in sight, Noctis assumed the man left it in on their bed. And he was so glad he had.

He’d seen the man shirtless for gods’ sake, yet his eyes still wouldn’t shift away.

A cough and clearing of throat could be heard somewhere, or at least, he thinks he heard a sound like that, he was so busy with staring the outside world could be on fire for all he knew.

“You ok there, buddy?”.

Noctis head snapped up from where his sight definitely wasn’t lingering on Prompto’s chest or anywhere below it. He could feel his face beet red now and it was only worse when he actually made eye contact with the blonde. _Gods, that suit it gonna be the death of me._

“I- Uh- Yeah, yeah! I’m good”. Smooth, real fucking smooth. “You- uh, yeah”. This just keeps getting better and batter. What the _hell_ was coming out of his mouth.

“Wow, you really have a way with words Noct”, Prompto laughed lightly, and definitely at Noctis’ expense. “I’m gonna go take this thing off before I wreck it. You gonna be alright?”.

_Please, never take it off._

“Yeah- yeah, I’m fine, I promise”, he answered, relived Prompto hadn’t questioned the reddening of his face or the loss of his words.

With a small smile, Prompto turned away and walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him. The firm click of the door shutting sounded, and Noctis almost collapsed to his knees. Letting out a deep breath, he leaned his head over the sink, turning on the cold water and splashing it on his warm face, realising how red and dishevelled he looked when he saw his reflection. The crying earlier wouldn’t have helped with his state.

Yet, he smiled. He smiled at his red, puffy eyes, messy haired reflection. Because all the bittersweet feeling was gone, Prompto had only hugged him, said some simple words and suddenly the whole word was back to being bright. No matter how big or small the dark clouds that hung above his head, sometimes randomly returning, Prompto revealed the sun one more.

 

 

 

_“I can’t make you happy”._

_Bullshit._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im back with more, this chapter was a little slower, less happened but a lot was covered.
> 
> next chapter: the big ball
> 
> Thanks for reading anyways, if ya want, leave a kudos or comment they really help.
> 
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> Come talk to meh on tumblr.
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> Is there something ya want me to write? An idea for a short fic i could do? then send those ma way too


	23. You won't believe how the party ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Decoration? check.  
> Fancy clothes? check.  
> A night they wouldn't soon forget? Check.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading  
> soz for any mistakes

 

People had gathered behind the door of the ballroom; the one room Prompto had yet to see. Around him, People were bustling with anticipation, the wait proving to be too much for them, chattering echoing through the hallway like a melody, a combination of tones from men, women and children who could barely keep still. Colours filled the hall; blacks, blues, purples, pinks, silvers, golds, every colour ever imagined painting the area with beauty and light. Not one person wore the same outfit, not one suit looked like another, not one material looked like it was borrowed from the rest. Families and couples had coordinated themselves into the same colour, matching together in one big circle. It was too picture perfect to be true and yet it was right in front of him. Even the doors to the ballroom, remaining close until the start time, had been repainted with a deep black and decorated with silver lines of glitter, creating patterns, swirls and circles dancing along the door’s frame. Each brush stroke had been with purpose, a silver deer stood on one side of the door, painted with every little detail, so much so it could move from beyond the wood it was perched on and join ones just like it in the woods.

The door had yet to reveal what laid beyond it, but if it was even half as good as the entrance itself, it would be perfect. Only the people who had worked on it had a clue of what the room would be, but they had been instructed strictly by Iris not to tell anyone, no matter how much their families and friends had begged to give one little clue, not one was willing to give it up. Not one was brave enough to face the consequences from Iris if they did. Whatever those doors were hiding, they would have to all wait until 9:00pm. And knowing how much time and effort had gone into it all, Prompto was more than willing to wait it out.

Alone, he stood by the side, leaning on the wall away from the crowds. He checked the grand old clock that stood to his right: 8:45pm. Not time yet. He arrived early, content enough to watch the excited crowds of people while he waited for everything to start. It was nice, seeing them all, smiles on their faces, not one shamed or hiding away from the party no matter what fur, claws or paws their fancy wear showed. Almost like the curse never existed. These people were here to have fun, to not worry about anything other than the now, and they weren’t going to let their unique features stop that. To see such confidence, such happiness and joy made a warm, fuzzy feeling flutter in Prompto’s heart.

Still, there was one person he wanted to see missing from the crowd.

Earlier, once Prompto had changed, he had been kicked out from Noctis’ room by Iris and Luna and forced to go down to the ballroom without the dark-haired prince. He tried to protest and insist on waiting for him, but he had little choice in the matter. What they were doing to the poor prince, Prompto had no idea. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen Noct in his suit, so there was no point surprising him there. He remembers exactly how Noct looked.

When he had entered the bathroom, he only did so because the other was taking so long and when he saw the crimson suit fitting perfectly against Noctis’ frame, he almost collapsed right then and there, his mouth felt dry and he stood there frozen for a few moments. Until, he took one look in the mirror and saw the tears, then that had become the priority. It was only after he saw the prince smile, that he let himself appreciate how the suit clung to him, trying his best to keep a neutral face. But damn, it was hard. Noctis was stunning, he always has been, but with the suit as well, it was almost impossible to look away.

But now he had to wait to see him and that suit again. The girls and Noct were taking their sweet time, Prompto had already been waiting ten minutes and he could feel his patients wearing thin the closer it got to 9:00pm. He really didn’t want to walk into the ball without Noct.

However, despite the need to go back up and see him, Prompto decided to be a gentleman and simply wait for whenever they were ready. No matter how long it took.

Another glance at the clock: 8:54pm.

He could see the crowd settling, all eyes were on the door now, waiting for the final minutes to count down.

8:55pm

Prompto fiddled with his sleeves’ cuffs, keeping his gaze down on his shoes. Maybe Noct wasn’t coming, perhaps he hadn’t been as excited about this as Prompto thought he would.

8:56pm

Second guessing his resolve to be a gentleman, Prompto considered going back to the room.

8:57pm

Music could be heard playing in the hall, a little classic symphony. Footsteps could also be heard and Prompto raised his head to see the crowd parting.

8:58pm

The footsteps became louder and the crowd had now created a perfect long gap straight to the door for the people approaching. Prompto cranked his neck higher, no longer leaning against the wall, he could just about see over the crowd’s heads. And there he saw some familiar looking dark hair and blue eyes he found himself smiling at. There was a small gap in the crowd where Prompto got a proper look at Noct’s face and at seeing it in full view, he felt his heart stop and his eyes widened

8:59pm

The footsteps stopped, Prompto watched Noct scanning the crowd; his eyes narrowed with a small frown, until his eyes landed on him and a smile overtook. Luna and Iris stood next to him, Prompto watched the prince turn to them, saying something in their ears before walking away from them and towards him. He watched the crowd part once more, this time to let the prince head straight to him. Behind him, he saw Luna and Iris continue to the door, stopping just before it and turning to face the crowd to make some small speech Prompto didn’t pay attention to. Mainly because, right now, he had something better to focus on. Now he could see what the girls had done, and he could hardly complain at what he saw.

Although he had already seen the man in the suit, he could finally appreciate what was in front of him without the worries or needs of comfort and it was no less breath-taking, and seeing Noct walking towards him, head held high, something light in his step, a shine in his eye. Fair to say it stole Prompto’s breath and heart. And the girls had only made it worse. Unlike before, Noctis’ usually messy hair had been flattered down, no longer did any spikes stick out of place, his fringe had been swept to the side to make way for his beautiful blue eyes. The amount of blue that hair had been hiding was criminal and Prompto sent a silent prayer Noct would style his hair like that more often. That wasn’t all. His eyes were bold, strikingly subtle but effective eye makeup darkly lined his eyes, staring at him like they could see right through him.

Then, the finishing touch, laid on top of that styled, framed hair. A small crown, delicate looking yet vibrant and strong in features and décor. Silver in colour, large and small diamonds filled the front, sparkling in the light, green, silver edged leaves merged themselves between the diamonds while the back and sides were a simple, circular band resting on his head. Nothing matched Noctis as much as it did. It looked like it was made for him, in a way it kinda was and the fact that the silver and green fitted perfectly with his midnight dark hair was an added bonus.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of Prompto staring at the approaching prince, Noctis stopped in front of him, a small, shy looking smile on his lips.

“You ready?”, he asked and Prompto could see his slender paws clenching and unclenching, a show of nerves.

“I- I- You look really- “. Gods he was as tongued tied as Noct earlier. _Breath just get your words out_. “…Wow”, he finally breathed out. Close enough.

“It’s the same suit Prom”.

Chuckling, Prompto took hold of Noct’s still moving paws and placed them in his own hands, “I know, I know but- I mean, just look at you: the suit, the hair, your eyes, everything! You’re just so…”, he trailed off, trying find the right words and to try to get his mouth back to work, though known that came in mind was enough to describe him. He sighed deeply, calming himself, his face feeling a little warm, he spoke with his eyes directly into Noct’s, “You’re beautiful”.

He kept his eyes on him, watching Noct’s face flood with red and heard a little mutter of, “I- I… thanks”.

Once those words left Noctis’ lips, the grand old clock next to them struck 9:00pm and the doors opened. They had missed all of the speech from Luna and Iris but Prompto found himself lacking the will to care. Instead of dwelling on it, he squeezed Noct’s furred hands, keeping one in his hold, “Shall we?”.

Noctis smiled and nodded, and they walked hand in hand with the crowd into the ballroom.

 

Watching below, a golden chandelier stood above in the middle of them room, its diamonds sparkling with light from the candles and lanterns surrounding the room, creating freckles of rainbow splattered on the wall. Every lantern had been purposefully placed to create the most light out of the room, each having its own duty to fulfil. Silk banners waved through the tall pillars, a combination of golds, silvers and whites flying through the room. Large enough to fit another house inside of it, there was no lack of room for every guest, at the sides stood tables and chairs; each table hidden under a large white cloth and each chair with a neatly placed white bow of its back. At the centre, the dancing floor took the stage, showing its shine, dirt less floor off for all to see, with an orchestra on stage beside it, music making it all the more inviting. Another clock, larger and with more presence than the other stood behind the stage, its melody silenced by the powerful kick of the violin or the mighty roar from the saxophone. The entire room was a sight to behold, some people pausing at the entrance to take in it all, the whole place had an extravagant look and feel to it and, at the same time, it felt warm and inviting.

Wasting no time, people made their way in, some already being pulled to the temptation of the dance floor and its music, others seating themselves away and gathering drinks from the nearby buffet.

Lost in the wonder, paying attention more to the room than what was happening around him, Prompto was forced to snap out of his daze when Noct’s hand pulled his and they walked deeper into the ballroom. He found himself stood in front of a table where Iris, Gladio and Ignis had already situated themselves, they all smiled when they saw them approach and pulled out two chairs for them. Gladio and Ignis wore suits of their own; the big guy wore blue and Ignis had a light grey one. While Iris wore a pretty dark blue dress, the colour similar to her brothers.

Iris leaned forwards in her chair, her arms resting on the table, tapping it with her claws and her eyes were wide and bright, excitement practically radiating off her. “Soo, what do you guys think?”.

“It’s great Iris, you did a good job with all of this”, Noctis replied, his head shifting to look at the ballroom behind him, Prompto couldn’t help but notice how his eyes lingered on the couples on the dance floor.

“Thanks, Noct!”, she smiled, her yellow eyes settling on Prompto. “What about you, Prompto?”.

Her expectant eyes fell on his. “It’s perfect. The decorations, the music, all of it, I’ve never seen a place so nice”. His smirk grew as her smile got wider at the words, if that was even possible at this point.

“Enough fishing for compliments Iris”, Gladio butted himself into the conversation, lightly shoving his sister with a smile, adding, “Haven’t you got a party to run?”.

“Alright, alright!”, she stood from her chair, waving as she walked towards the band, “I’ll see you guys later”. Amidst the small crowds, she disappeared from sight.

“So, are you and blondie gonna dance tonight princess?”.

Prompto’s focus snapped away from watching Iris leave back to the table, where Gladio’s question had brought, in his opinion, an adorable blush on Noct’s face and a small mumble of: “Shut up, Gladio”.

“Now Gladio, leave them alone”, Ignis voice cut in, a warning to his tone but a little grin on his face.

Gladio appeared to say something back to defend himself, his mouth was moving but Prompto hardly heard the words, instead he found himself staring at the prince beside him, watching him reply with sour faces and a redness to his cheeks. He wouldn’t have any objections to dancing with him, if anything it would be the highlight of his night; just him and Noct, close together on the dance floor, nothing else mattering except the music and the weight of him in his arms. Dancing was something Cindy had taught him, said it would help him find a partner, even with the small pickings of how many people were in the village. Prompto mainly did it to humour her, knowing the added skill of dancing wouldn’t change anything. It had been fun anyways. And now, he was thankful for Cindy’s insistence, because he could dance with Noct, he _should,_ all he had to do was find the confidence to ask. Hopefully, the words would come to him before the night was over.

He grasped the gifted leather bracelet still secured on his wrist, he hadn't taken it off since he found it in his satchel, wondering how Cindy was doing; did she miss him? Did she notice he was gone and saw the state of his ‘home’? Did she know about Ardyn’s outburst, did any of the villagers know? He hoped she didn’t think he just abandoned her, leaving without saying goodbye must’ve hurt. He missed his friend beyond words, he wanted to spend some time together again like the good old days. But, in his current situation, it was safer for her if he just stayed away. As long as she and her father were safe, that was all that mattered. One day, he’d go see her again… he hoped.

“Prompto? You still with us?”, he heard Ignis’ voice.

Backing away from his thoughts, Prompto woke to reality to see all members of the table looking at him, something looking like concern in their faces. 

He cracked a smile and tried to forget everything his mind had brought back, “Yeah, sorry must’ve… zoned out or something”, he offered, trying to brush all the concern away with a chuckle he hoped didn’t sound as fake as it felt.

To his left, definitely not believing his words for a second, a small doubtful frown appeared on Noct’s lips. Prompto saw him shift slightly, then felt a hand on top of his under the table, squeezing lightly.

“Try to keep the lovesick stares at a minimum, there are other people here y’know”, Gladio mocked, an eyebrow raised in Prompto’s direction.

Clearing his throat, Ignis stood from his chair, “Gladio, why don’t we go get some drinks in, yes?”. An unmistakeable pointed stare was directed at Gladio, leaving little room for argument as he followed the bespectacled man.

It was funny to watch the man squirm under Ignis’ eyes while they walked to the buffet table, leaving Prompto and Noctis alone.

“You sure you’re ok?”, Noctis spoke up and Prompto could still see the unwavering concern, it was touching but he didn’t want it to be there. Tonight, was a night of celebration, of fun and joy, a night that was well overdue for this place and for Noct himself, and the last thing Prompto wanted to do was ruin that for him. Tonight, all his attention would be on the man by his side.

Under the table, he rubbed his thumb across Noct’s soft paws, “I promise I’m fine”. And he meant it too; he missed Cindy dearly but keeping her safe, away from himself was best for everyone. Or, at least everyone except him.

Noctis visibly relaxed; his shoulders slumping, his posture less tense, his eyes softening, seeming a little more convinced than before. The prince opened his mouth, words most likely awaiting to come out, until the band stopped playing and a voice cut him off.

“Everyone! If I could please have your attention!”.

People twisted and turned in their chairs to get a good look at the stage; where Luna and Iris stood together, mics in hand, with the band paying silent attention behind them. Voices quickly went silent, respectively they all looked to the stage.

“Thank you”, Luna added after a few seconds of silence, “I’m so happy to see you all here today with us. Tonight, is a night I shall not soon forget, and I hope you all won’t either. These past few weeks have proved how strong we are and how we still have hope and after all the work, we all deserve this night and many more in the future”. She paused once the clapping started, small cheers from the tables around them. “Now, I shall leave you to the main organizer of this event”, she bowed slightly, moving herself to the side as Iris stepped forward, more clapping sounding, the same excited smile on her face, it must be hurting her cheeks at this point.

“Thanks Luna and thanks to everyone for coming.”, she smirked, in a cocky sort of way and Prompto could’ve sworn that it was directed at him, her eyes somehow singling him out of the room. “Now, I’d like to start the first, proper dance of the night. So, ladies and gentlemen grab your partners and get on this dance floor!”. People moved from their chairs and Iris signalled the band who started to play a softer, slower song than the upbeat entrance one.

All around him, Prompto could see men and women offering their hand to the partner beside them and walking, hand in hand, to the dance floor, gracefully falling into the steps, holding each other close. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t jealous. Sighing, he turned back round in his chair, noticing Noct’s own gaze; his eyes fully set on the dance floor, the many lights and lanterns illuminating them, something shone in those eyes; something that looked almost like sadness? Something that made the small frown on Noct’s face so much more powerful and painful.

Prompto felt his heart plunged and looked away. He could do this, he could ask him. He felt like punching himself in the face, why was this so hard? Frustrated, he took a deep breath in, scanning the crowd for a distraction and finding Iris staring at him in the corner. Her smile was gone, her face was blank, and she had an eyebrow raised. She was looking right at him, no doubt about it and, deep in his gut, he knew what that stare was for. And he had to agree with her.

With the little steeled nerves he had, Prompto rose from his chair, the legs scraping across the floor, but he could barely hear it over the sound of his heart beating. He stood in front of Noctis’ line of sight, the prince looked up at him, his face only looking puzzled.

_You can do this. Do what you promised, do your best to make him happy._

“Dance with me?”, he asked, offering his hand toward him, his palm open.

He watched, with a rapidly beating heart, Noctis’ gaze move from his eyes to his hand. Eventually, a warmth grasped his hand, and Prompto let out a sigh of relief from the weight of it. Clasping them together, he helped Noctis rise from his own chair and kept their hands secured as he led them to the dance floor, ignoring the cocky looks from Iris in the corner she stood.

They walked together to an empty spot on the floor and Prompto finally let go of Noct’s paw, facing him he froze. Uncertain, he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. A man and a woman dancing were easy; men lead, women followed, he didn’t know why but that was what he was taught by Cindy. She never told him what happens when two men dance though.

He supposed it was only polite to ask. “So, how do you wanna do this? Would you like me to-?”.

A hand grabbed his waist and another back in his own. Completely stopping whatever he was going to say next. He looked to see Noctis staring back with a glint in his eye and a shitty grin.

“Prince’s lead”.

Those words ridded all nerves or hesitance, a little fire igniting in his chest at the teasing tone, one he took as a challenge. “Oh really?”.

Noctis’ grip was light and Prompto didn’t give him a chance to resist as he stepped back from his hold, causing Noctis to release him only to grab the prince’s own waist, his other hand joined again with Noctis’ own and he took the first step of the lead, forcing Noctis to follow his steps if he didn’t want to get left behind. A little surprised look showed on Noctis face, probably processing Prompto’s quick switch around and his hand flung to the blonde’s shoulder for support, moving with him in the dance.

Once they were steady, both moving fluently together in the song, Noctis relaxed in his hold and chuckled, it was more music to Prompto’s ears than the band itself. “You ass”.

“Looks like your royal highness doesn’t always get what he wants”.

Noctis huffed but didn’t object.

The steps felt like they were flooding back to the front of Prompto’s brain, almost like muscle memory he was able to perform every step without thinking about what the next one was. And with Noctis so close to him, also dancing unbelievably well for a man who said he hadn’t been to a ball since he was a child, it was like pure bliss. He couldn’t keep his sight off the blue eyes so close to him now, deep and beautiful, so enticing that he could stare in them forever and still never grow tired of them. They were so close together, Prompto cared less about the music and more about the man in front of him, whose lips were only a short distance away, he could easily learn in and capture those lips in his own. But, the moment was so perfect, he held himself back, not wanting to break it. It was everything he had thought it would be and more; just him and Noct, those eyes never leaving his, small smiles on both faces and nothing else in the world mattered. And when Noctis leaned in to leave a small kiss on his cheek, Prompto could feel his heart leap in joy, the small action broke his resolve, he had to return the favour by taking those lips. The dancing stopped, but he couldn’t care less, he was too focused on the kiss. Their hands still stayed in placed, drawing each other closer. And when he finally pulled back, the blissfully happy look on Noctis’ face was one he would treasure forever.

Slowly they moved back into the steps, slow dancing to a song that seemed to last forever, their feet linked up once again in a perfect sync. Noctis moved his head to rest on Prompto’s shoulder, a small, quiet sigh escaping his lips, his body feeling loose and light in the blonde’s arms.

Lost in their own little word, Prompto prayed for the song to last a lifetime.

 

 

A loud crash sounded, as the ballroom’s entrance doors slammed into the walls, leaving a deep dent in its wake. The music stopped, and all dancers ceased, footsteps could be heard, and a dark figure entered the room.

Prompto let go of the prince’s hand but tightened his grip on his waist, stepping forward a little, while Noctis head snapped up from his shoulder, an alarmed looking shock written on his face.

And when the figure became clear, Prompto shielded most of Noct with his own body, his arm stretched out in front of him and whatever calm bliss that had been present in the room ceased to exist. The fluttery feelings in his chest turned to a different kind of fire.

A smile presented itself on the intruder’s face when her eyes locked with his.

“Prompto! There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you”.

Her steps stopped once she was inside the room, eyes all on her; most of fear or anger, yet the girl seemed unfazed by the chaos she had caused.

 

Cora.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soo many words.
> 
> This chapter actually didnt develop as much as i was planning but the i saw the word counts and was like: welp guess i'll just do the rest in the next chapter.
> 
> ANYWAY, Cora is back and is a bit... odd
> 
> welp, that's all
> 
> Thanks for reading anyways, if ya want, leave a kudos or comment they really help.
> 
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> Come talk to meh on tumblr.
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> Is there something ya want me to write? An idea for a short fic i could do? then send those ma way too


	24. Cora

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cora has found him.  
> And none are pleased to see her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for readin  
> soz for mistakes

 

Fear and anger were brewing from the people; at the buffet table, Gladio took a defensive stance, growling lowly, next to him Ignis had a steady gaze and an eerie calmness, Iris and Luna stood to the side, more shocked than anything else while the rest of the people either shrunk in fear or rose in threat. The girl barely spared any of them a glance, her eyes never left Prompto; she looked…different. Like the night he rode to Ardyn’s for the very last time, something seemed off about her, her hair was unkempt, very unlike her, and her eyes appeared wider, her pupils narrower, her smile was unsteady, twitching at the sides and wider than what was considered natural. It was all rather unnerving, almost terrifying to look at, her once obvious beauty had something been deformed to a crazed state.

People took steps back, others advanced on her, she didn’t appear to care, she stayed still, smiling at him, even as Gladio produced a defensive growl when he was close.

All she did was laugh. It wasn’t warm, it was empty and cold and sounded more like a screech that sent shivers straight down Prompto’s spine.

“Well, well, well, so this is where you’ve been hiding. I had a hunch”.

Even her voice put him on edge. Wrong, it was so very wrong, her voice was high pitched and still had the after effect of her laugh on the end of it. It was like this was all some kind of sick game to her.

Prompto grinded his teeth together, furthering his body so Noct was completely out of her sight. “Get out”, his voice came out lower than he had expected. Trying his best to stay calm, he could feel his need to shout and let out all of his rage on her increase, he wanted to yell and scream at her to get out and never come back. After everything he wouldn’t let her hurt these people and her finding out where they all were hiding put everything at risk.

She had been looking for him, she must’ve been. And the only reason she knew these people and the castle existed was because of him. He should’ve just run when he had the chance.

“Prompto, is that anyway to treat your girl?”, her crooked smile grew, and she took slow steps towards him. Not hesitating when the others around her also moved closer to her, clearly agitated and offensive.

Prompto’s eyes narrowed, his teeth still scraping, so hard it was surprising they didn’t break. And the closer she got, the harder it was to hold back. Behind him was the most important person in is life, and he be damned if he was going to let her anywhere near him.

“Prom?”, he heard Noct whisper.

He angled his head to see the prince behind him, not letting his covering stance waver; Noct’s eyes were glistening and Prompto recognised the small look he gave him, a look of hesitance and hurt and Prompto felt his heart tighten because of it. _Please don’t believe her._

He snapped his head back round when the laughing started up again, louder now.

“ _That’s_ what you replaced me with?!”, she spat, barely keeping herself together, “You’re choosing that _thing_?!”.

And that teetered him over the edge, falling into a deep dark voice where he swore he could only see red, unable to stop the venom in his voice but still somehow not raising it.

“Don’t you _dare_ speak about him like that. We were _never_ a thing, there was never _anything_ between us. Now. Get. Out”, he growled.

Her smirk faltered for a second, her eye twitched, her whole state changed and broke down. Yet, she didn’t leave, she didn’t run away from the clear threat in his voice, she just laughed again and increased her speed, so she was basically running at him.

And that is when he saw the glint of silver in her hand.

Alarm flooded through his mind; instinct taking over, he pushed Noctis to the side as far as he could just as she came close enough to take a swing. He dodged the blade and put some distance between him and Cora.

Her laughter was maniacal now, her eyes leaking with some form of black liquid, her pupils shrunk further. “I didn’t want it to be like this Prompto… but I guess you leave me with no choice”, she flipped the blade in her hand, smiling, “oh well”.

She lunged again for another strike which he easily dodged by stepping to the side; her movements were inexperienced and unsteady, relying too much on her speed and the blade in her hand, she swung violently and wildly. There was no strategy or reason in her moves, she was a madman swinging her toy. Even without a weapon, Prompto easily dodged and rolled away from every blow she tried to take.

Her breathing got heavier, the large and wide swings taking the energy out of her. “Must kill you. Must. Kill. The prince”, she huffed between her slowing strikes of attack.

Seeing an opening, Prompto side stepped from the blade and struck down on her arm; Cora yelped, dropping her blade, it clanged as the silver collapsed to the floor. A bang followed when Cora joined it, on her knees, her head in her hands.

“This ends now Cora”.

He could hear small sniffles and whispers coming from the girl below, her hands shaking, her whole body unable to stay still. Then the whispers got louder and louder, revealing themselves to be chuckles which developed into a full-blown laugh. She abruptly stood from the floor, her movements faster than they should be able. Prompto took a defensive step back. She tossed her hair out of her face, revealing dark, empty eyes, her irises completely gone, the black liquid now pouring down her face in bucket loads. Her arms were twisted, and her hand reached behind her back. And time seemed to stop. Another glint of silver could be seen, similar to the one still laying on the floor, her movements were so quick he could barely see or understand them; one moment she’s reaching, then it’s in her hand, then she angles it weirdly in her grasp, not looking like a prepared strike. Eventually, it clicks in his mind of what she’s about to do. And how little he can stop it. Her arms move again, and the silver is now in the air, about to fly past him. Because she wasn’t aiming for him, she was aiming for Noct. With no other choice left, Prompto moved once again, not to dodge the blade but to put himself in its line of sight. He only just moved in time, the blade barely scraping his shoulder, but it was enough to divert its intended direction. The cut it left stung like hell.

A roar sounded and Gladio, along with the others, angrily charge at Cora, pinning her down to the ground and restraining her. She screamed and kicked but couldn’t hold off the many pissed off people and, once her hands were behind her back, she stopped struggling.

Prompto watched, unable to feel any remorse or guilt for the girl. Sucking in a deep breath, he covered the wound with his hand, hissing as he applied some pressure.

Amongst the shouts and chaos, Prompto could hear footsteps fast approaching and turned around only to be encased by a set of arms and pulled into a firm hug, avoiding his wound. He could feel Noct’s small and quicks breaths near his neck and ear and brought one arm to wrap around the prince, leaving the other to keep pressure on the wound. A few seconds past before Noct released him from his hold, the prince’s eyes were narrowed, and a hard look was directed at his shoulder.

“Hey… I’m ok”, Prompto tried to insist, those hardened eyes coming to rest on his own. “It’s just a scratch”.

Noctis sighed, his shoulders slumping, though he still didn’t look too pleased, a little smile was clearly trying to be fought back, “You’re an idiot. Don’t worry me like that”.

“Sorry”.

“Could I have a look?”, Ignis stepped forward, Noctis giving him some space as the bespectacled man inspected his shoulder.

Slowly, Prompto lifted his hand and hissed, the blood still poured out of the wound, though only a little, it still hurt like a bitch. Ignis leaned forward, his eyes narrowed and after a few seconds, he stepped back, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

“Doesn’t appear too bad”, Ignis informed, _clearly_ not having any idea how much it fucking hurt. “We don’t have many medical supplies but, for something as minor as that, it should be fine if we just clean it, as long as you’re careful”.

Another squeal of laughter interrupted them, Cora had stopped moving but her mouth hadn’t. Ignis gazed back at her with more than a minor look of irritation. “You two go deal with Prompto’s injury, we shall handle it down here”.

They didn’t argue, they both made their way to the exit. Prompto couldn’t help but give Cora one final glance before walking out of the door. Whatever stared back at him wasn’t the girl he remembered.

 

Noctis led him to their room, ordering him to sit on the bed while the prince disappeared into the bathroom, sounds of rummaging could be heard from beyond the door and Noct emerged with some cloths, a towel and a bowl of water. He sat down next to Prompto on the bed, leaving the water bowl on the floor, and bending down to soak one of the cloths.

Wordlessly Prompto removed his bloody shirt, no longer completely green, most likely ruined thanks to the stained on the shoulder. And he had only worn it one night. He tossed it to a random spot on the floor and stayed still, Noctis had finished soaking the cloth and slowly raised it near the cut. Gently, he dabbed along the partly dried blood, the warm water stinging as it hit the surface, Prompto couldn’t help hissing quietly at the sensation. Time went by slow, Noctis’ movements felt hesitant and careful, making the job slower than it should be, but also less painful. In the silence, flashes of what just happened in these past minutes invaded his mind, making it so much more real; Cora, her finding this place had terrified everyone, these were people who relied on the secrecy of their location and hiding in order to live and survive, and he had ruined it for them.

She was here because of him, she had found him, there was no other reason for her to come here. One more person knew where these people hid, and he couldn’t safely say they could trust her to stay quiet. Especially after that display.

That hadn’t been the girl he knew; Cora was never the nicest or the most honest, but striking at him and trying to kill? She had never been capable of that. Then there was the black liquid, it looked just like a beast’s blood, and it was pouring out of her eyes, getting heavier and heavier. It wasn’t right, it couldn’t be. Cora had no connection to the beasts, she lived and grew up in the village, away from the chaos that Prompto spent his whole life keeping at bay. Whatever had happened to her, it had been on purpose, _someone_ must’ve done something. And he had a pretty good idea of where to point fingers.

He should’ve just left, the day he came here after Ardyn had kicked him out, he shouldn’t have knocked, he shouldn’t have let Noct convince him to stay. Maybe, just maybe they were safer without him. Or maybe Ardyn was going to attack either way. Given their history, Prompto wouldn’t be surprised.

At least here, he could fight with them.

There again, he could always go back and finish the job himself.

But then he might fail, hell, he might die and if he does, that’s one less fighter in the castle’s army.

It was a conflicting argument, neither decision looking like the right one, it was the reason why he had kept it all buried in the back of his head for so long. And the road ahead looked just as blurry now as it did then.

“You ok?”, Noctis asked.

Prompto turned his head to see Noctis, now done with washing the cut, wrapping a new, slightly wet cloth around his shoulder and tying it like a bandage.

He smiled, “I’m fine”, he said, though he didn’t feel it to be completely true.

Noctis didn’t say anything back, he only hummed and returned to his work, drying the remaining dampness from the covered wound and throwing the towel to the other side of the room. Then, he stayed there, sitting quietly, something odd flickering in his eyes.

“Who was that?”.

He knew the question would come eventually, considering the girl had barged into his home and threatened to kill him, it was only fair for Noct to know. He’d probably have to tell the others too. “Cora. Her name is Cora. She lives in the village”.

Noctis bit his lip, averting his eyes. “Were you two…involved?”.

“No. Gods, no”, he quickly responded, “Noct, what Cora said, it wasn’t true, none of it was”. And he hated how her words had grew seeds of doubt in Noct’s head.

“I believe you”, Noctis smiled at him, the odd look in his eyes gone, “I was just making sure”.

A sigh of relief passed Prompto’s lips, glad to have that cleared up so easily and a little happy Noct put so much trust and faith in him that he didn’t need to convince him that her words were untrue.

He grabbed Noct’s paw, remembering the other things that party wrecker had spat out. “I’m sorry about what she said to you- or about you anyway”.

The smile slowly etched away, “It’s fine Prom, really. I’m used to stuff like that”.

“But you shouldn’t have to be”, he insisted, holding onto Noct’s paw firmer. “And it’s not fine, none of that was fine”. He sighed again, deeper this time. “I don’t know how she found me, or why she was even looking. This whole night has been… just- I don’t know”.

Those blue eyes came back to his, some kind of hidden warmness behind them, Noct squeezed his hand back and let it go. Then, the prince crawled onto the bed, grabbing Prompto’s arm and dragging it with him, forcing him to follow. After they got near the pillows, Noctis discarded his jacket and laid down, taking Prompto with him, he wrapped Prompto’s arms around him before bringing his own arms around the blonde’s back. As soon as those arms wrapped around him, Prompto felt himself relax, his unconsciously tense muscles easing into the touch and warmth. He allowed his eyes to close and move closer to the dark-haired prince, nuzzling his nose into Noct’s neck and breathing deeply. A set of fingers could be felt moving in and out of his hair, randomly playing with every strand.

“Tonight wasn’t your fault”, Noctis started and Prompto was too blissed to argue back. “It’s not like you told her to come here and attack. You being here is not a burden Prom… Besides, the night wasn’t so bad, the dancing was pretty nice”.

The change of subject brought a small smile to Prompto’s face, “The dancing was nice”, he chuckled. “You’re a good dancer”.

“You’re not too bad yourself”.

Prompto lifted his head from Noct’s neck; staring into blue eyes and lightly bumping his nose against Noct’s own, small giggles emitting from both men. Noctis’ hand glided downward from his hair to his face, cupping his cheek lighting, gliding his finger across Prompto’s jaw. He watched Noct’s eyes flicker across his face, landing on his lips, he kept still as Noctis inched closer. And once he could feel Noct’s breath ghosting over his lips, Prompto captured those lips part way.

It was slow, barely a brush of the lips, and perfect in everyway possible. Prompto pulled away, but not before leaving a little peck on Noct’s lips as they separated. He was greeted with a beautiful smile; all light, with Noct’s eyes crinkling a little at the sides, and he couldn’t help his own damn smile that was beginning to hurt his cheeks.

He carded his fingers through Noctis’ hair, resting his hand on the side of his face. “You’re too good for me”.

Noctis let out the cutest little snort, “Idiot”, he replied, leaning in again to continue where they left off.

The kiss developed further this time; Prompto took Noct’s bottom lip between his teeth, nibbling it lightly, he heard Noct gasp through his nose, finally sucking on his lip, making the sigh become needier at the end. Gripping the bed with one hand, he broke the kiss, so he could lift himself up and hover above Noctis, giving them a much better angle with less awkward spaces between them and the pillows. His shoulder stung at the movement, but he paid it no mind as he delved his tongue into Noct’s mouth, flickering the prince’s tongue and sucking it agonizingly slowly, producing a chorus of moans from the man below him. He kept one hand at the side of Noct’s head, keeping him supported while the other creeped up Noctis’ already tousled shirt, feeling his soft chest beneath, not missing how the prince tensed and then relaxed and leaned into his touch. The sounds Noct produced were driving him fucking insane, wondering how far he should go with this before they should stop.

A loud knock came from the door, causing them both to jump up in fright.

“Highness?”.

Prompto groaned, annoyed, he buried his head in the pillow beside Noctis. _Ignis, why was it always Ignis?_

Beside him, he could hear Noct let out a breathy laugh, clearly still out of breath, and felt a soft hand pet his head. “Yeah Iggy?”.

The door didn’t open, thank the gods, because Prompto couldn’t guarantee he could be bothered to move, whether they had company or not. “Just to inform you we have dealt with downstairs _situation_ and the girl is in one of the cells. We were all going to go down to ask her some questions, if you and Prompto would like to join us”.

“Can’t it wait till morning”.

“I’m afraid not”.

Noctis sighed, “Ok, we’ll be down in a minute”.

His head still buried, Prompto groaned again, “do we _have_ to?”.

A final pet was left on his head, then he could feel hand trying to push his shoulder away. “Yes, we do”.

Prompto got the hint, and despite how much he would rather not, he lifted himself and rolled to the side, letting Noct be free to sit up and get out of bed. Lying on his back he watched the prince stretch and head to the bathroom, he saw how messy his hair looked, all the effort the girls had put in was completely destroyed and his clothes were creased and rumpled. Noctis stopped at the door frame, a cheeky smile on his lips that Prompto so wanted to jump up and kiss again.

“We’ll continue this later”.

Prompto smirked, “you promise?”.

“I promise”, Noctis replied, the bathroom door closing behind him.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter another day
> 
> things only get worse from here so be ready
> 
> boom
> 
> Thanks for reading anyways, if ya want, leave a kudos or comment they really help.
> 
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> Come talk to meh on tumblr.
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> Is there something ya want me to write? An idea for a short fic i could do? then send those ma way too


	25. A war begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end is near.

 

Deep, dark, empty; the dungeons hadn’t been used for years. Back before the war, Noctis had been forbidden from entering this place, whatever criminals that had been locked up behind these cells, his father had dealt with them, not allowing his son to be apart of any of it. Not many people had stayed the night here, very few stayed longer than a week, Noctis knew that much. Only a few petty thieves held for a few days, or some violent fighters held for a few hours. His kingdom had been a peaceful place until the beasts arrived and there was no way for those things to be held captive down here without someone getting hurt.

The walls were damp with a liquid Noctis rather not know, the floors were sticky and made a sickening noise with every step he took. Something dripping could be heard bouncing off the walls, sounding along with the combined footsteps of himself, Prompto, Ignis and Gladio. A manic laugh echoed from down the hallway, emitting from the only prisoner in this entire dungeon: Cora.

Still in a frantic state, the sight of the girl again immediately put him on edge; little nerves rested in his stomach, warning alarms blaring in his mind. Peering down at her, when they had reached her cell, he watched her body twitch of the floor, the same black liquid still oozing while her smile stuck on her face like he had been glued on. To say he was uncomfortable was an understatement.

“You know this woman, Prompto?”, he heard Ignis whisper next to him, it was hard to listen with the constant giggles.

Next to him, Prompto’s eyes narrowed and he nodded his head, “Yeah, Cora lives in the village. I knew her, kinda”.

“She certainly seems to know you”, Gladio huffed, crossing his arms.

Prompto sighed but didn’t reply.

Ignis took a step forward closer to the cell, peering down at the girl on the floor, who didn’t appear to notice or acknowledge their presence, Noctis wasn’t even sure she knew they were right next to her. “Miss?”.

Her eyes shot up, the dark, hollow holes staring at them, solid black lines underneath them, painting her unusually white skin, it made Noctis shiver. Her eyes appeared to shoot from person to the next, settling between him and Prompto.

“Kill- Kill Prom… Prompto, Kill the- the prince”, she hissed quietly, giggling afterwards.

Ignis tried to speak up again, “Miss, your actions this evening shall be- “

Cora darted to her feet, her hands forcefully grabbing the cell bars, making them rattle, causing Ignis to jump back. “Kill Prompto. Kill the prince”, she said, louder this time.

Another clang of the bars, Gladio slammed his fist into the side of them, snarling, “Listen here you witch, you better start giving us some answers or else”.

She laughed, her skin getting whiter and whiter as more black liquid poured. “He’s coming, he’s coming for you all!”, she finished, her laughter ending and her smile fading, she collapsed to the floor. Unmoving, she lay there, no more twitches and no more giggles, her chest stopped moving.

Prompto opened the cell door, sliding to the floor, her checked her pulse on her neck and wrist, pressing hard on her skin. “She’s gone”.

“And we’ve got no information to go on. Fantastic”, Gladio snarled.

Standing from the floor, Prompto left a sad glance down at the girl before exiting the cell. He looked to them, his jaw clenched, “Ardyn’s coming”.

Silence fell over them, the words cutting through Noctis’ heart, tearing it into little pieces. If Ardyn was coming, a battle would be inevitable, he would bring his beasts with him, he would break through Noctis’ home and he wouldn’t be able to guarantee the safety of his people. Or the winning of this war.

“You’re sure?”, Ignis asked.

“There’s no one else she could’ve been talking about”.

Noctis could barely hear their words anymore, his heartbeats drowning out most of his hearing, he could feel dread filling up in his chest. There was not one single way for this to end happily, the most likely scenario to happen was for them to all be dead soon. A war, another one, by the same person who tore his family, his _kingdom_ apart. They beat him last time and the bastard still managed to scar them with this curse; this time he had less soldiers, less weapons and less time, the odds were piling up against them and they were all going to pay the price. The situation was only worsened by the fact that he had finally found happiness again in his life and it was only going to be taken away from him once more.

“Very well. Then, we need to warn the people and get ourselves- “.

“HIGHNESS! IGNIS! WE NEED YOU!”. A shout came from above and heavy group of footsteps were banging across the floor above them, a chorus of shouts and screams travelling through the walls.

They all took a single glance at each other, before racing upstairs.

 

Chaos reined above; people were frantic, grabbing love ones and tripping over each other, then racing to their rooms or wherever they deemed safe. Some were screaming, others crying, few were calm, all had one objective in their minds: run.

Reports had come in while they were in the dungeons; masses of beasts, large enough to fill the forest were marching, oddly in formation, towards the castle, Ardyn was also seen in the middle of them all, appearing to be leading the charge. The lookouts, who had exited the party early to go back to their duties, had ran back and informed the people, instead of finding the prince or a person of charge, they crashed into the ballroom and shouted their news for all to hear. Not the best plan, but it got the information across.

Now, with his people running past him in fear, Noctis felt more lost than ever. Everyone was darting in different directions, he didn’t know how to calm his people, let alone prepare them for a battle. He whipped his head back and forth, trying to find a solution or someone to talk to, and all he saw was the blurs of people running without a glance in his direction. There was only one way for them to have a chance in this war and that was for everyone to be part of it, so they could rise together and fight for their home. But, the waves of panic and terror was something he had no ideas for, no plan, how will he round everyone up? How will he get them all prepared to fight? Was anyone even willing to be a part of this war now the threat is upon them, or would it be better to give up now and try to run. How was he going to save them all?

He could feel his mind closing, his vision blurry as his own panic blinded him to the world around him, blocking any thoughts or reason. It was like his brain was suffocating, slowly destroying itself because there was nothing else to do. His breathing was becoming heavier now, each breath a challenge, he clenched his paw tight, not feeling his claws digging into his skin, how was he going to save them, when he couldn’t even save himself?

“Noct?”.

A voice, one that passed through the darkness, through the fear and screams, a hand he could feel in his own, gently prying away his fingers so they could combine together. Soft, blonde hair brushing against his cheek. Warm breath near his ear, little whispers of comfort that was bringing him back to the world bit by bit.

Eventually, the blur faded, and vision returned again. People were still running, terror and panic was still high, yet he felt better, more grounded, by the warmth in his paw and the person by his side. And the reminder that if he failed, he wouldn’t be the only one paying the price.

“You can do this”, a final, firm whisper in his ear and Noctis saw the entire world clearer.

He brought his attention to the task at hand; oncoming march and his only soldiers were fleeing, not the best situation to start but he could work with it. He gripped Ignis sleeve, grabbing both his and Gladio’s attention. “We need everyone together, round up everyone who has left the ballroom and bring them all back”. It was the biggest room in the castle, the only one suitable for a plan to be devised, and fast. “Find Luna and Iris, make sure they get here as soon as they can”.

The two nodded, whistling for the attention of the braver citizens and splitting up in opposite directions to venture around the castle. Barking orders to those they saw on the way.

“What now?”, Prompto asked, his voice not sounding the least bit afraid of what’s to come.

Noctis gazed around them, most people were calmer now and quite a lot had already made their way back to the ballroom. “We need to make sure those defences are ready and get those who can’t fight to someplace safe”.

Prompto nodded, turning his eyes toward the stage, “Then it looks like you’ll be making a speech, your highness”, he smirked.

Speeches weren’t things he likes to do, he usually left that up to Luna or Ignis, but since he can’t know for sure when Luna will be back and with Ignis doing his own task, he had little choice. Nonetheless, he sighed and made hesitant steps to the stage, Prompto following him along and staying next to him when he grabbed the mic and cleared his throat.

That caught their attention, the large crowd, all filed into the room, looked up at him, staying silent as their lost eyes searched for something, something to give them hope again.

Noctis bit his lip, taking a few breaths and a sidelong glance at Prompto, who smiled in a way that made all his thoughts be reassured. They didn’t have time for waiting, he got straight to the point. “It’s true, Ardyn is coming and he’s bringing an army with him and we need to stop them. I know you’re all scared… I am too, but for us to win this we need to be ready, we _need_ to fight and protect those we love”. He couldn’t help glancing back to Prompto as he spoke, the man offering much more courage than he would ever know. “We’ve prepared for this; we have defences, we have weapons, all we need now is our own army, ready to fight for what ours!”. A cheer, loud and forceful, the lost eyes finding direction. “I need you all to act now, we have trained for this. Fighters get your weapons and armour and meet with me out front, all those on defence make sure our castle is secured, children, elders and those instructed not to fight, go to the upper floor living room, it’s the most secured location. Now go!”.

Another cheer, then people were scattering away, not in fear this time but with a purpose. People spoke and worked together, helping those who were struggling to safety while large groups headed to the storeroom with the armour.

“Noct!”.

In front of him he saw Luna and Iris running, the best they could in their outfits, towards the stage, both clearly out of breath once they reached him.

“Gladdy says the attack is happening”, Iris said, her breathing a little heavy.

“Afraid so, you two should go get ready”.

They shared a sad look, clear dread in their eyes, but it didn’t last, Iris stood tall, her demeanour shouting ready. She nodded and raced out the door, Luna didn’t follow, instead she smiled at him.

“I heard how you inspired the people Noct. Thanks to you they have never been more hopeful”.

“I’m glad”, he replied, a little thrown off by the unexpected words. “Now go. We’ll see you out there”.

“Good luck to both of you”, she wished before joining Iris in fleeing the room.

With both ladies gone and his people off doing his orders, Noctis and Prompto were left alone in the empty room, faraway echoes of footsteps and shouts were the only sounds flowing through the door.

Noctis could feel his heart hammering in his chest; he couldn’t tell if it was fear, nerves or some after effect of giving a speech that had empowered his people. A little pride welled up in his chest. With the people sorted, his friends informed and plans going into motion, there was only one thing left to do: fight. And it terrified him.

He could already see it now; blood, bodies, tears, cries, this war wasn’t going to be pretty, whether they win or not. Lives will be lost, people who he knows, people who he loves, people he swore to protect were all at risk at being given a painful death. They had already fought once, a war he was only there for at the end, with his late arrival he had stopped Ardyn, helped his people and won the war. But Ardyn was a sore loser. Even after all they had sacrificed, all his people had worked for, the bastard still got the final laugh when he cursed them all. If only he had arrived sooner, stopped the bloodshed, and finish Ardyn off before he got the chance to-

“Noct?”.

Noctis jumped with a startled gasp, his chest heaving and his head feeling light, suddenly pulled from deep inside his head. Forcing himself to take deep breaths, Noctis willed his eyes to focus on the man in front of him, looking at him with soft concern. “I’m fine”, he breathed out, though even himself wasn’t convinced by his words so it was no surprise that Prompto’s frown didn’t leave his face.

The blonde man sighed, biting his lip, “Noct… I know you don’t want to hear this and I… I know you won’t listen to me but- “, his eyebrow’s furrowed together, “I don’t want you to fight, I want you to stay inside the castle”.

_…No._ He refused to be a coward and hide behind these walls when his people and friends were fighting for all their lives, he was fit to fight, and he wasn’t going to run away this time. “You can’t stop me”, he stated firmly, “I’m going to fight, I won’t- I’m not staying here”.

“I know you won’t”, Prompto softly chuckled, a sad smile on his face, “I just- I don’t want you to get hurt but, I know you’ll go anyway, you’re too stubborn for your own good”. He took hold of Noct’s hand, causing all irritation to leak out of his system. “Now, let’s go kick some ass”, he finished.

Somehow, in the middle of a war and the knowledge of the fight soon to start, they smiled and walked, hand in hand, to face whatever would be thrown at them together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter this time, didnt want to combine it all together sooo... here ya go.
> 
> hope yall ready for this
> 
> boom
> 
> Thanks for reading anyways, if ya want, leave a kudos or comment they really help.
> 
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> Come talk to meh on tumblr.
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> Is there something ya want me to write? An idea for a short fic i could do? then send those ma way too


	26. Today he dies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> War. It was the one thing everyone expected but nobody wanted.  
> Within it all, Prompto was going to make sure today was the day that bastard died.  
> So the one he loves most can live the best life Prompto could give him. He just hoped he would live to be part of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late but here.  
> Enjoy

Chapter 26

Screams echoed in his ears, the fight that was anticipated, yet still dreaded had clearly begun outside. Around him, people charged with faces of blank stone, with lingering fear written between the lines on their foreheads and the heavy breath from their chests. Scared but not willing to show it. Prompto knew that feeling well. The blood rushing to your head, the heartbeat that wouldn’t slow, the end screaming in your head, telling you it’s a waste of time and death was coming either way. Perhaps, this time, it was, but he was never one to back down from a fight when he had something worth protecting. And this castle, these people and the kindness they shared, Noct and his brilliant light that Prompto swore he would keep safe, they were all worth ten times his life and he would die and die again if it meant they could return home safely today.

He picked up his weapons, strapping them to his customized belt; two daggers, a sword and even a little pouch filled with bandages and cloth, he doubted he would have the time to help the injured or himself if that time comes, this was a one-shot battle, still he locked the buckle on the outside of the pouch in place. The remaining people yet to join were doing the same, strapping on their weapons, preparing themselves with a few last breaths and goodbyes, then striding to the front door to join their brothers and sisters. How many of them would come back alive today, he wondered, if any at all?

That was a dark path of thought he rather not follow.

Noctis picked up his own sword, it was heavily decorated at the hilt, some kind of royal crest, silver and beautiful in every way, clearly barely used or intricately cleaned from whatever battle it may have faced for those markings to shine in the dull light of the hall, the lanterns dying high above, only able to offer a dwindling flame, enough to see, if only barely, not that it mattered.

“You ready?”, Noctis asked beside him, his own voice wavering, it was easy to pick up the rattle in his tone and the same fear in his eyes everyone had, though he tried to hide it, standing tall with a hesitant smile but a determined look.

Gladio spoke up behind him, with Ignis at his shoulder, “Wouldn’t want the fight starting without us”, his light humour did not go unappreciated as the four smiled with more strength this time, though it couldn’t stop the developing hole in Prompto’s chest; fear or nerves, it didn’t feel like either, maybe it was both or maybe he just felt empty.

He wanted nothing more than to smile without that feeling lingering near his heart and if today goes right, or as right as it could, he will have the chance again and so will they. He had a plan, one that was basic, so much so, it was more of an ideal scenario than a path of actions, but it was the best he could come up with in such brief time. That coward was in the middle of that crowd, smiling smugly as his minions did the work for him, not for long though, Prompto wouldn’t let that bastard off so easily, he needed to pay for what he’s done. You take off the head of the snake and the rest of it shall fall. And by that logic, whatever dark magic created those things, should cease to exist once that man is bleeding out on the floor, Prompto’s sword deep inside his chest.

Ardyn was a mystery, what felt like a long time ago Prompto could only see him as a man who was family, who taught him to fight and survive, now he didn’t know what he was, what he would fight if they went one on one; the same teacher with a sword in his hand or a dark power that brought the beast’s wrath. One way or another, Prompto wouldn’t let him see another day, not after everything he’s done.

He took one last look at Noct, a small side glance to see the fear and fire in his eyes, to have that face imprinted in his mind to give him something to fight for, to keep going if all goes haywire. “You guys stick together, I’m going on ahead”, he said with as much confidence as he could.

Noctis’ mouth drew into a thin line, his eyebrows furrowed, “Where are you going?”, his words and fake façade not enough for the prince to not question.

His fingers twitched, and he reached for the others hand, unable to stop himself, the warm touch sending sparks up his palm, he squeezed tight, “I’m going to find Ardyn and end this”, he explained truthfully, he couldn’t lie to him, a growl chased the bastards name as it left his lips.

“On your own? No way, we are- “.

He silenced the prince by capturing his lips.

Time was of the essence, Noct’s voice of concern, his fear, it was all touching if not heart-breaking to hear and Prompto didn’t want to hear it no more. He pulled Noct closer, drowning every scared word, every doubt with a deep, desperate kiss, trying to convey all his emotions, all he felt and wanted to say, yet couldn’t in one small touch. Noctis didn’t back away, he returned the kiss just as desperate, savouring whatever he could get from the few seconds they had left before the fight, making it harder for Prompto to take his lips off his.

“I’ve got to do this”, he insisted, his face still only centimetres from Noct’s, his breath ghosting over those lips, he had half the mind to take them again, “You guys have to defend the castle”.

Noctis’ eyes shifted away, biting his lip, hesitating until he returned his gaze back, “Promise me you’ll come back”.

“Always”, he hated how the lie tasted on his tongue. It was the only way Noct was going to let him go, the firmness of his words, the want of a promise he cannot keep, the man was dead set on his words. Prompto would try to get back, to return to him, he didn’t want to die, not now, not today. What he wanted and what he would get were up to chance, and there was no way for him to guarantee a promise that big. But it was enough for Noct, whose grip loosened on his shirt, nodding for him to leave.

Prompto didn’t waste any time and gave Noctis’ hand a final squeeze, before diving into the crowd and towards the fight.

He made sure to look over his shoulder at the man one last time as his view got obstructed by the faces of fear.

 

 

Cries could be heard from every corner, filling the outside world with a shroud of manic slaughter, two enemies clashing in a blur of red, blacks and silvers, moving as one combined force whose movements would be impossible to read with an untrained eye. Steel colliding with thick flesh, black blood staining silver blades mixing with red to create a colour that should not exist. He could smell the iron in the air, a dense feeling hanging with it, like the oxygen itself was suffocating him. The amount of bodies didn’t help. Alive or dead, it didn’t matter, they were all giant pillars in his way to his true target, the one he could just barely see ahead, an auburn wave floating above them all.

Prompto gritted his teeth and urged himself through the dense crowd even further, slicing through any beasts in his way and taking down the ones causing the most trouble, he heard a chorus of thank you’s every big one he took down, if he was saving lives he didn’t have the time to notice who it was, but he didn’t have the heart to leave barely trained fighters to struggle against the worse of the worst. They diverted him from his path, but the idea of someone being torn to shreds, spine chilling screams ripping from them was enough reason to help as many as he could. In the end, he knew he couldn’t save them all, but he would damn well try.

The distinctive hair in the distance was clearer now, proving Prompto’s movements were getting him closer and closer, leaving a trail of dead beasts in his wake. Truly, the pure sight of it was enough to anger the already growing fire within him making his aim dead set. Would he mourn the man after everything? The façade of loving him, caring for him and raising him had been as fake as the words he spat from the beginning, there was never any good in the man, there never had been. He should’ve listened to Cindy more. Family, the only he ever had, the idea blinded him to it all, it made a mask that was permanently fixed on Ardyn’s face, a mask of a man who could do no wrong. Maybe if Prompto had seen through that sooner, none of this would’ve mattered. However you looked at it, he deserved some if not most of the blame. No, he wouldn’t mourn the man, but he would mourn the memory, no matter how fake it was, it was the closest thing he had to a family, to a past, to a life. Until now.

Slicing through more flesh, the colour became stronger, standing out against all the others: blues, greys, browns, blondes, none of them could hide the man. There was one other colour he was looking out for too: black, he hadn’t come across Noct yet, not even a glimpse of him, he didn’t know if that was better or worse than seeing the man on the battlefield. There was no way of knowing if Noctis was still alive, all Prompto could hold onto was the fake promise he made and the hope in his heart. That was all he needed to cut down another beast, leaving a deep hole in his chest and avoiding another who had taken a swung at his head.

Blue eyes, black hair, the final glance they shared, all images flickered in his mind. For him, he would win this war, one way or another, there was no option for failure. Not with all these lives in the balance.

Out the corner of his eye, he spotted bright blonde, a female of thin structure plunging a spear through a beast’s eye before moving on to the next one. Luna, she must’ve led the charge, while her armour was soaked with black, Prompto couldn’t see a speck of red, she was fine, that was some assurance at least.

For how long though? How long would they all last before the castle and its people fell?

He kept pushing through, he was so close, he could see the man’s face ahead. Another tall beast blocked his way, he slit the thing’s ankles, forcing it to kneel on the floor in what he guessed was pain, could these things actually feel the attacks happening to them? Didn’t matter, it went down, and he got the perfect chance to slice the thing’s throat, killing it. One more down, only a couple thousand to go. Or one big monster if he was lucky.

Ardyn wasn’t even fighting, he stood tall, on top of a carriage, overseeing the war like it was a form of entertainment, for him it was one big show and he got front row tickets. Smiling, he kept his gaze high, not noticing Prompto slice through another beast and reach the opening in the battle where the carriage stood. A quick look around confirmed there was not one beast acting as a bodyguard for him, all were distracted with the people’s charge, the cocky bastard must think he is invincible. That smile that hung on his face and the twinkle in his black, empty eyes (unlike the brownish colour Prompto grew up with) showed his joy in seeing them all suffer. It was sick. And Prompto couldn’t help the satisfied grin on his face when Ardyn finally noticed him and the smile was wiped clean from the bastard’s face, his smugness obliterated in one small second.

“My dear Prompto”.

His name coming from that disgusting excuse of a living being, who couldn’t be considered human no more, made him feel sick deep within his gut. “Ardyn”, he acknowledged, his sword still drawn and ready at his side.

The man hopped down from the carriage and leisurely strode towards him, “It doesn’t have to be like this, us two fighting. Believe me when I say fighting the beasts will be a much more pleasant way out”.

The threat didn’t sway him, nor did the venom in Ardyn’s voice. He took a defensive step back, raising his sword higher, wanting nothing more than to plunge it deep into the man’s heart.

Ardyn sighed. “Or we could do it the hard way, I suppose”.

“I guess we should”, he began, spitting the words out, hatred fuelling him, “Let’s get this over with”.

Another sigh, the monster stopped walking, leaving a small distance between them. “Before I kill you I just want you to know Prompto, I was actually starting to see you as one of my own family”, he stated, looking mournful for a beat and then, “Oh well”, he laughed, “Easy come, easy go”.

A dark aura covered Ardyn’s hands, a weird magic that was similar to the colour of the beast’s blood, his empty eyes leaked black ooze like Cora’s did. Raising one hand above his head, specks of the darkness were thrown at Prompto, looking like black fireballs, he barely dodged the three that came towards him. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before and his face must’ve shown his confusion as Ardyn’s smug smile returned, this time with black liquid drooling from the corners.

It was never going to be as easy as a sword versus a sword, he knew that, but something like this and what Ardyn could do with it was anyone’s guess. And that would be a major disadvantage in this fight. Not that it really mattered, he knew what he was getting himself into when he came up with this plan, he wouldn’t back down, not now, not ever.

He would win, for _him_ he would win. Because Noct was waiting for him and he swore he would do anything to not let him down.

With one last image of black and blue in his mind, Prompto raised his sword and charged.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soz for the lateness to any who read this and want to see it to the end.  
> Which is soon btw.
> 
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> Come talk to meh on tumblr.
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> Is there something ya want me to write? An idea for a short fic i could do? then send those ma way too


	27. A cause worth fighting for

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He’s hurt Noct, more than that, he destroyed his life.
> 
> And he was going to pay for that

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope ya enjoy  
> Soz for any mistakes

The bastard was slippery, that much was true, for every strike Prompto tried to advance with, a blast of purple would block it away, more following forcing him to keep returning to defence. Luckily, whatever power was being thrown at him, it wasn’t indestructible; it could be sliced through with his sword, causing it to dissipate with a hiss into the air. However, every blast he sliced, dodged or ran from, too many more followed, giving him no chance to even get close to the man who was snarling in laughter, toying with him endlessly. Another game for him to play like the fake love he tossed around at home. All through Prompto’s life, Ardyn had only pretended, acting his role every second of every day, none of it was real, the first part of his life never existed; it was a show, a performance of a happy family who lived in a small village, the father and son seen as heroes against the beast’s wrath. His childhood counted for nothing, his training, his scars they were all fake, his light as the village’s protector was dim hiding him in the shadows of the lies he had been told from the very start. This man had not only ruined his life, but his village’s too and though it never truly felt like a home, there was hundreds of innocent people that use to gaze at him like he meant something, like he was worth something. And that was only scratching the surface of Ardyn’s deeds.

He’s hurt Noct, more than that, he destroyed his life. Not only starting a war that took many lives, he imprisoned the survivors in their own skin, letting them live in hatred of themselves and the mirrors hanging on the wall, completely shunned away from society without a locked door in place. Prompto could remember those blue eyes; scared, ashamed, shying away from him when his body wasn’t covered in at least three layers of clothing. He could remember how scarred Noct was, not physically, but his mind had been broken through years of self-blame and isolation, fearing that one day he would wake up without the basic need of food for himself and his people. Hurt bundled up in Prompto’s stomach, each memory of the pained eyes and falling tears bashing through his skull as he rolled away from another blast, still no closer to the empty shell that stood in front of him, a satisfied smirk on its face as it took a casual glance at the death and destruction happening all around them. No regret, no remorse, just plain amusement.

 

That tipped him over the edge.

With three more blasts heading swiftly towards him, Prompto switched from his stuck defensive position and met the attack half way. He sliced through the first one, easily gaining enough time to destroy it, the next two he wasn’t so lucky with. One nipped his shoulder when he evaded it, not given enough time to miss it completely, the other was almost a direct hit, he raised his sword against his chest within enough time for the blow to be deflected, though the pure, brutal force pushed him back. Pain oozed from his shoulder and chest, worse than any nip of a blade or blow to the stomach, he bit down a hiss and clenched his mouth closed, desperately moving into a full-blown run towards Ardyn, not wanting to give any time for the man to strike a ranged attack like that again. If this was the amount of pain he would feel from a small scratch, he’d rather not know what a full aimed hit would feel like.

Ahead he watched Ardyn, his attention turning from the war around them back down to him, a surprised look on his face when he saw how close Prompto was to him now. Instead of another blast, Ardyn walked forward, drawing his sword just in time for him to block Prompto’s heavy blow. Prompto jumped back, baring his blade, his teeth clenched as his breath spilled out forced and deep, the adrenaline pumping through his blood, his hand trembling slightly, keeping his hold tight on his sword.

He had to end this, he had to end it all. Another huff of air, then he lunged forward, using all his teachings, all of his experiences from his fake past to swing perfectly; each strike was well placed and well thought out, not wasting any more energy or time. Ardyn kept with his pace looking less and less pleased by the situation the longer it went on, Prompto couldn’t help but feel deep satisfaction of seeing the man struggle.

Ardyn went on the offence, his strikes lacking, his breath heavier, it wasn’t like him. Back when they trained together, Ardyn always seemed so unstoppable, so impossible to beat, his skill with the blade felt out of reach every time Prompto got a cut, a bruise or knocked to the ground in bitter defeat. As the years past and the hours of training got longer, he got better and better, they fought less together when more beasts had started to appear in the village and Prompto had to spend more of his time dealing with them. Perhaps within those years he had exceeded Ardyn’s level, but not so much so that it should be _this_ easy.

Another clumsy swing to his side, one Prompto effortlessly deflected, throwing the man off balance completely. A fatal mistake. And while Ardyn fumbled, Prompto struck the man’s arm causing him to yell in pain while his weapon fell to the ground.

_Thud_

With no weapon to fight with, Ardyn stood still, his back hunched over as he struggled to get his breath back. Something wrong glimmered in his dark eyes that stared at Prompto with a sickening grin.

_Too easy._

“Good fight, my boy”.

_Far too easy._

“Such a quick one as well, my, my, you have grown”.

Alarm bells blared in Prompto’s head; he kept his sword held high, something feeling like panic rising in his chest.

“I’m so proud -“. The sound of metal hitting flesh stopped him, a grunt of pain ending his words.

Black blood spilled from Ardyn’s stomach, Prompto’s sword dug deep inside him. Shocked, wide black eyes stared up at him, he gripped tighter and twisted his sword deeper into the man’s chest before removing his blade completely. Prompto could only watch as Ardyn’s knees buckled beneath him, firmly pressing on his wound, chocking on his own blood when he tried to speak.

“I- I didn’t – Ack! Think you had- had it in you”, he sputtered, the words mixed with blood.

Somehow, it didn’t hurt, watching his old father figure bleed. He knew what he was going to do, he knew what he had to do, and he knew what would happen. As soon as he had grabbed his weapons Prompto had been dead set on killing him, he just thought that when he had actually done it he would feel something; regret? Sadness? Guilt? But there was nothing but a numb feeling and a barely contained anger.

Seething, he let his sword, dripping with black dangle at his side while he stared down at the man, “You- You have ruined so many lives, you were the cause of so many deaths! The beasts, this castle, the curse, it was all because of you!”, he took a deep breath, coldly continuing, “You tried to _kill_ Noct, did you really think I wouldn’t kill you for it?”

Ardyn chuckled, “I suppose not”

Blood was pouring now, a small puddle spread across the ground, nearing Prompto’s shoes. Yet, Ardyn still stood, or knelt in this case but he was still alive, that amount of blood would’ve caused the human body to shut down in seconds. How was he still breathing? Prompto tightened his grip on his swaying sword, his eyes crinkling in confusion, keeping a wary gaze on the man below him; Ardyn’s heavy breathing hadn’t stopped, he was still clutching his chest, but through each sharp intake of breath, Prompto could see a small twitch of his lips, a threat of a laugh, like a joke he wasn’t part of was happening right in front of him and he couldn’t see it.

Then it clicked in his head as below him the blood twitched and sizzled.

A strong, nefarious laugh erupted from the ground and Ardyn stood on wobbling legs, a dark, purple aura surrounding his wound, ceasing the bleeding, “You didn’t think I’d make it _that_ easy, did you”.

Instinct took control and was the only thing that prevented Prompto from being hit by another blast of magic. Keeping his distance, he kept his gaze on Ardyn standing to his feet. Watching the blood that flooded the floor moments ago gurgle and sizzle until there was nothing left, evaporating into the air, the wound caused by his blade had stopped leaking blood and, while the cut remained, no more pain came from it. Now, the man stood fully straight, no hint or reminder of his soon to be defeat present anywhere on his face, only an everlasting, familiar smirk.

 

_Not… not possible_

 

Another blast, a singular shot that he easily evaded by rolling to the side only for an army more to follow; he took down as many as he could, dodging many more, sweat dripping on his forehead, frustration and concentration building up, his eyes narrowed trying to keep focus on all shots, his breathing ragged, his body starting to become tired. And with no opportunity to fight back, he was stuck on the defence again except this time Ardyn wasn’t holding back.

A sickening laugh could be heard somewhere ahead, Prompto couldn’t spare a glance in the bastard’s direction as more and more magic came firing at him. Too many, there were too many of them and their numbers only seemed to grow, Ardyn’s magic somehow not taking enough energy out of him to wear him down and slow his attacks. All he could see was purple and blacks, energy that shouldn’t exist yet does and the vilest man owns it.

_Blue, deep blue eyes_

This wasn’t a fight he could afford to lose if he fell here then the war was decided, Ardyn’s power could easily destroy the castle and everyone inside with a click of his fingers. Magic flung past him, one of the blasts scraping his arm, a small cry of pain then he sliced the thing in half, only for its brothers to join in. He couldn’t die, he made a promise. Pain shot through his leg as another blast caught him, this was going on too long; his limbs ached, and his form was lacking, too tired to keep it together, the pain making it harder to cope. A fake promise, a lie. A set of blasts caught him when he side stepped from another; one to the side of his chest, another to his right arm, the one holding his sword, he kept his grip secure even when the pain was unbearable, and a final one to his leg, not able to withstand the pain and keep upright. He collapsed to the floor, landing on his knees, a dry, painful cough escaping his throat. Sad eyes, he could see it now, Noct finding him on the battlefield, blood everywhere, his body stone cold dead, would the man cry? Rage? Fall to the floor beside him while the castle and everyone else burned? Would he blame Prompto? Curse him for not keeping a promise that was never true but was believed anyway. Unbearable, the pain didn’t stop even when the blasts ceased, and he had no more fight left in him. He’d let them down, he let them all down; Noct, Ignis, Gladio, Luna, Iris… all of them, _you promised! You promised!_

“Well, well, that was entertaining”.

Footsteps were approaching, Prompto didn’t look up, blinded by the anger at himself for the disappointment he was, at Ardyn for the things he’s done, at his body for not getting back up again, he always got back up again. But the pain, it was too much, he couldn’t take how it made his skin burn, blood slowly spilling from small cuts scattered across his chest, his arms and his legs. _Too much, Too much._

A cold metal touched his chin and lifted his head up, forcing him to look the monster in the eyes. It smirked, “It’ll be quick, just for you, though I can’t guarantee his highness the same privilege”, he declared all too smugly.

Fear coursed through his veins.

_Noct_

Another image invaded his head; Noct lying on the floor, helpless, those blue eyes empty with no spark of life. The war was lost, Ardyn stood there, pride and joy on his face when he looked at all the death he had caused, swinging his sword down into Noct’s chest one last time, not to take his life but for the satisfaction of how his red blood decorated his silver blade.

_No, no…please_

If he wasn’t staring into the eyes of a demon, seconds from death, he would’ve screamed, tore his hair out, just begging for any god who would listen to save _him_ while his cheeks soaked with fallen water. He kept it in, all of it, willing whatever tears wanted to fall back, hiding his pain behind a blank face. Because, right now, he wasn’t dead, he was breathing, he was injured but not paralyzed, he had a chance and if he did, so did all of them.

As long as Noct lived, happy with his people by his side, for many more years to come, whether Prompto was there with him or not, he’d be happy. Even if his own life had to be sacrificed to do it.

_Noct_

The dark images were gone, so was the horror laying in front of him, a bright smile replaced it all, blue eyes crinkled slightly at the sides, sparkling.

He clenched his fist, finding feeling in his pained limbs once more.

Losing was not an option.

Despite the blade at his neck, Prompto had no hesitance when he slyly reached to his side, pretending to grip at his aching wounds.

“I image you’re in a lot of pain right now”.

His finger touched the tip of his dagger’s handle.

“Don’t worry it will end soon”.

Firmly grasping it, he waited.

“Image if your prince could see you now”.

A blaze behind his eyes, he eyed his target, “Yeah, imagine that”, he smiled back, his remark startling Ardyn. And while those wide, black eyes were frozen shock for less than a second, Prompto whirled his hand round and slashed Ardyn’s chest, right next to his heart, deep and long, the angle of attack causing his neck to be nipped by the blade before he leapt back.

He didn’t relax, he covered his bleeding neck, the cut wasn’t deep enough for it to be fatal or a critical wound, though it still stung, and there was enough blood to slip through his fingers.

“You little shit!”, Ardyn yelled, his skin paler, the blood coming in buckets and this time, the slight tremor in his voice and tremble in his hand when he touched his wound made his pain more believable than the show from before.

Taking the opportunity, he lunged forward, aiming to strike the weakened monster’s arm, instead of flesh he struck metal. So, he struck again and again and again, letting out all anger, hatred, sadness, fear into powerful blows, precise and practised. Until Ardyn’s clothes were soaked in black and he struggled to stay on his feet.

One more hit to his legs and his feet couldn’t handle his weight no more, Ardyn collapsed to the ground, appearing weak and pain, something he failed to act earlier.

Even monsters can only take so many hits before they fall.

“I’m- I’m impressed – _‘cough’_ – Prom- Prompto, I taught you well I -”.

Returning the favour, Prompto placed his blade on Ardyn’s neck, halting his words, “Enough”, he demanded, his face as stone cold as his voice.

Ardyn laughed, quiet and broken, but with enough humour for Prompto’s suspicions to sky rocket once more. “You should _really_ – ‘ _cough_ ’ – stop- stop focusing on me and keep an- an eye on your _prince_ ”.

 

… _what_

 

A sound broke through his focus, tearing his eyes from Ardyn to the battle still raging on; a growl, pained and heated, he recognised that growl. _Noct._

Panic surged through his bones, his head whipping side to side and all around him to try to locate where that sound had come from. Until he finally spotted dark, black, spiky hair in the distance, moving erratically as more hurt whines emitted from him. He had to get to him, he felt no purpose in winning this war, in keeping himself alive, if Noct wasn’t there with him.

He had to kill Ardyn _now._

Ready to slice Ardyn’s throat, he tore his eyes back to the ground, finding that no one was there. His eyes searched across the ground and the nearby crowd, not seeing any sign of Ardyn. In the time it took to locate Noct, he must have run, distracting Prompto from his presence completely so he could slip away from his blade.

Another growl filtered through his ears, time running short, he took one last quick look around him before racing off to where he’d seen Noct, tearing down any beasts in his way no matter how much his legs ached, or his wounds stung.

All he saw was darkness, a mixture of blurred beasts, black blood and red, combined as he kept running, he took notice to none of it, all that mattered now was getting to Noctis.

Another whine, he ran quicker, dodging more beasts than taking the time to cut deep enough to kill. Close, he was close, the growling getting louder, Noct’s hair visible and getting clearer until he could see his face. No longer smiling, his countenance was contorted in anguish; his teeth were bared, hissing, hurt breath heaving through them, his eyes were narrowed filled with rage and dirt and blood, both black and red that Prompto prayed wasn’t his splattered against his skin.

“Noct!”, Prompto yelled, breaking through the final crowd to reach the prince, stabbing a large beast crowding Noct through the heart, before moving on to the next.

A weak smile spread across Noctis’ face, only present for a second until a beast threw itself at him and he slit its stomach. Now closer, Prompto could see the multiple scratches and cuts littering the man’s body, the bigger ones across his chest were probably what made him yell out.

When no beasts were paying them any mind, they approached each other, relief evident in both faces at just seeing the other breathing.

“You’re ok”, Noctis spoke, a little unsure, his hands gliding across the gashes from the magic blasts on Prompto’s chest, his touch feather light.

They didn’t have much time, but Prompto was willing to waste just a few seconds to savour this moment. He took hold of the wandering hand, clasping it tight with his own. “I’m fine”, he assured, bringing their join hands to his lips, leaving a light kiss.

“And… and Ardyn?”.

Guilt speared through Prompto’s heart, he had one task, one tiny thing to do to save them and he let him get away. He couldn’t keep his eyes on Noctis when he replied, “Still breathing, the coward ran”, he growled, pissed at himself _and_ Ardyn.

A squeeze of his hand was enough for him to look back at Noct, seeing his set, determined, shining eyes and light smirk. “Then, we’ll fight him together”.

The confidence was inspiring, so unlike the shy prince from earlier who had so little faith in himself, he feared making a speech in front of his people. It was infectious and Prompto found his own lips turning up like they were playing some kind of game.

He squeezed back, “Together”, he agreed.

“Good”, Noctis replied, finally letting their hands fall back to their sides, “Cause, I think I just spotted an injured, auburn haired man hobbling to one of the castle’s towers”

Prompto paused. Relief flooding through him at the sound of a second chance. All thanks to the man in front of him. He smiled at those sparkling blue eyes, beyond grateful, not just for the find but for him simply being there, by his side.

 

_Brilliant, you’re beyond brilliant._

_Gods, I love you._

 

“Then, what are we waiting for?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so close to the end i can taste it, thanks for sticking with me this long, means a lottt :)
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for reading anyways, if ya want, leave a kudos or comment they really help.
> 
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> Come talk to meh on tumblr.
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> Is there something ya want me to write? An idea for a short fic i could do? then send those ma way too


	28. The end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto…
> 
> I’m so sorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope ya enjoy  
> Soz for any mistakes

 

 

Steps became blurred; a thunder against the creaking, old wood steps, moving up and up. An endless staircase that lead right to the top, black blood staining their shoes, increasing in proportion the higher they got, the closer they got. Echoes of the battle outside were fading, now they were barely whisper’s in the frigid wind around them, it sent powerful shivers down Noctis’ spine, he almost quivered with every breath. A settling fog of bitter taste bombarded his sense, the final part of this journey and war approaching as natural as the sun setting. The end was near.

Laboured breath and stinging legs, they reached the top where only one door stood, slightly ajar he could only see a dark shadow of the room, one that had been abandoned long ago and was in such a disarray they never took the time to rebuild it.

Prompto placed his hand on the door, hesitating, “You ready?”, he asked, his eyes wandering around Noctis’ form like it would be the last time he could.

Feelings of terror, with a cause he could not place, forced Noctis’ to do the same, making sure to remember every inch and detail of Prompto from his beautiful eyes to the clothes he wore. A final nod and the door were pushed open with a lasting squeak.

 

Inside, the chilling air from the staircase was nothing compared to the room. The broken walls circling the room were dent and cracked, ginormous holes dotted here and there, letting seeping air from the outside charge through, the cool scent combined with iron and smoke. A gentle reminder that the longer they take in here the longer his people have to survive out there. And if both of them didn’t get out of this alive, neither would they.

In the last few moments he may have left, he sent a silent prayer; for his people to live and thrive and for Prompto to be with them, like a family the man never had. For them all to rebuild his kingdom and be happy once again, no matter their appearances. He didn’t bother to add himself into the plea.

On the floor, the once powerful demon lay, not dead but bleeding so profusely it was a miracle he was still breathing. Prompto had really done a number on him, Noctis couldn’t help but to feel a little pride about that. Taking a life was no joyous thing, it haunts you for the rest of your life, the nightmare following you until the day your own heart stops beating, he wouldn’t wish that curse onto anybody, especially not Prom, no matter how many beast’s he may had killed in the past, a human being with thoughts and feelings makes it different. But, what lay on the floor could no longer be considered a man nor a beast, it was a monster that had caused misery for far too long and had outlived its lifetime, Noctis had a feeling no one would regret taking this life.

“Come to finish the job? Couldn’t – _hack –_ couldn’t do it yourself?”, the words only just barely got out of Ardyn’s mouth, blood spilling from its lips.

Prompto drawn his sword, taking a few steps closer, Noctis followed suit. “I would’ve do it earlier had you not ran like a coward”, the blonde snarled, a vicious, deadly sound that Noctis would never imagine coming from him.

“What would be the fun in that? Then _his royal rotten highness_ wouldn’t see it”, Ardyn staggered to his feet, clutching his stomach, “That doesn’t seem very fair. Everyone deserves to see their revenge take place first hand”.

“And that’s exactly what I’m going to get!”.

By the time Noctis saw it, it was too late to do anything about it.

As Ardyn rose from the ground, in his hand sat a glimmer of purple, twitching and ablaze with power. One moment it was there, barely visible behind Ardyn’s back, next minutes a wide blast slammed into his chest, tossing him to the ground a few feet away, his sword clattering beside him. Prompto landed next to him, gasping for air.

The air was knocked out of him, his whole body stung in pain, paralyzing him to the floor. It was too much, it hurt too much, he couldn’t move his arm, his sword only a few centimetres away and he couldn’t raise his hand high enough to reach it. He could only raise his head, lifting it in time to see Ardyn approaching, another purple flame in hand. Without a limb to protect or move himself, Noctis closed his eyes waiting for increased pain to come. And the only thing to come to his head while waiting in the dark for what might be the end was: _I’ve failed everyone_.

Footsteps got louder, stopping what couldn’t have been that fair away from him now, he could hear the sizzle from the flame, a deep, scratchy chuckle and the sound of metal clambering against the wooden floor.

He tightened his closed eyes, _any second now._

“NO!”

He heard a voice, a yell and grunt then the sound of metal clashing. _Prompto._

Forcing his eyes open, Noctis peered up to see Prompto standing, shielding Noctis position on the floor, his sword raised and pushing against Ardyn’s own blade. His stance was strong, Noctis could see the firmness in his feet but his arms quivered, blood dripping down them from the multiple scratches, a black scorch mark could be seen on his sides and Noctis could only assume there were more on his chest.

Metal kept clashing against metal, staggering steps as Prompto and Ardyn fought for control, a chance for one strike to make a direct hit rather than graze. Both men were visibly tired, injured and bleeding, strike then blocking, striking again, stepping, dodging all around the room, heavy breaths combining. Overall it was 50/50 of who would win and who would fall.

Noctis didn’t like those odds.

It was too big of a risk, too much to leave to fate.

He wiggled his hands, feeling the burning pain increase with every finger lifted, how Prompto was not only up and moving but fighting and with such speeds too without crying out in pain, he didn’t have the faintest clue. But he couldn’t let him fight alone, he _couldn’t_ leave him, they swore they would fight, together, and he wasn’t just going to sit here and do _nothing_ while Prompto was fighting for his life, for everyone’s lives.

Despite the pain, he raised his hands, hissing as not to yell out, then his arms, using them to lift himself up into a sitting position. It hurt, it all damned hurt so much, feeling like his flesh was on fire only burner brighter the more he moved, the more he fought. After he shifted his feet and legs, he eventually found enough strength to stand, swaying as he did so. Wasting no time, he joined Prompto, picking up his own sword drawn, even with his feet still shaking and his grip not as tight as it could’ve been if the pain still wasn’t present. Just as Ardyn struck, Noctis intercepted the blow, leaving Prompto time to catch a second and swing, a direct hit to his left side. Together, Ardyn didn’t stand a chance, one swung while the other blocked, swapping roles fluidly, like they had trained and fought together for many years, perfecting their movements until they were formed together as one deadly weapon.

Another strike by Prompto to his chest and Ardyn looked like he could collapse any minute, this time for good, blood soaked through his clothes, his whole body shook, yet the monster’s sword still rose to block any attack it could and still got a few lucky strikes in. And, even with the yells of pain and the blood oozing from its mouth, it still smiled. It sent cold death down Noctis’ spine.

Then, he saw it.

Hidden out of place by Ardyn’s carefully directed steps and covered by black, a final purple flame stood, though small it was vicious, lashing around the palm of his hand. Ardyn wasn’t just being stubborn by lasting this long, he had been waiting, his final weapon building up in power without any of them seeing. And if he used that dark power one more time to knock himself and Prompto to the floor, Noctis didn’t think they would get back up again. They would be sitting ducks, waiting for the slow execution to be performed by the monster while paralyzed with no chance of fighting back. If the shot was aimed well and as strong as it looked, he may not have to torture them to death, that one small bit of magic may do the work for him.

He didn’t second guess himself, he didn’t have to think it over and he didn’t have to plan it out. With how long the flame had been growing as the battle had been waging there was no way to know when Ardyn would decide to use it, although with the state he was in now Noctis would guess soon. That’s why it was so easy to decide, instead of thinking it through with his mind, looking for any other way. He acted on his heart.

Prompto blocked one of Ardyn’s swing, meaning it was Noctis’ turn to hit the thing wherever he could, but he didn’t. When he saw the flamed hand twitch, he pushed Prompto as far as he could with what little strength he had left and raised his sword in time for Ardyn to raise his hand and fire.

Pain filled his entire self, he heard a crack as he back collided with the far away wall and finally land on the cold ground. Everything was black, the room felt colder, he couldn’t see, he could barely hear.

“NOCT!”. He could faintly hear his name being called over and over again, the voice sounded afraid shouting for him.

Warmth came to rest beside him, amongst the pain he could feel warm hands cupping his face and his side, frantically touching all over him. It was nice, yet it broke Noctis’ heart in two. _Prompto._ He voice was so frantic, worried, broken, warm breath near his face, Prompto’s hands shaking him as another quieter cry of his name entered Noctis’ ear. Noctis wanted nothing more than to open his eyes and see the blonde beside him. But no matter how warm he felt or how much he just wanted to _see,_ only more darkness entered his vision, he couldn’t hear that voice anymore, he couldn’t hear anything. And slowly, the warmth left him too.

Everything was so dark, so _cold._

Nothing existed as he fell deeper into the dark, tired and alone, he was unable to fight it.

 

_Prompto…_

_I’m so sorry_

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short one this time just so i actually release something
> 
> Thanks for reading anyways, if ya want, leave a kudos or comment they really help.
> 
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> Come talk to meh on tumblr.
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> Is there something ya want me to write? An idea for a short fic i could do? then send those ma way too


	29. Finally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time went still, the tight chilling hand of the present ceasing movement to the slowest pace, frame by frame, every second felt like an eternity, cruelly letting him see it all happen right in front of him. And yet, he couldn’t stop the events happening that flowed deep into his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soz for any mistakes

 

Time went still, the tight chilling hand of the present ceasing movement to the slowest pace, frame by frame, every second felt like an eternity, cruelly letting him see it all happen right in front of him. And yet, he couldn’t stop the events happening that flowed deep into his eyes.

When he had finally spotted the speck of purple that had had enough time to be at full capacity with power so strong and unstable it flickered out of hidden view and into the light, it was already too late. He knew he wouldn’t be able to move in time and that fact made a sharp knife of hopelessness pierce through his skin and into his heart. Never had he been caught off guard in any fight, never had he felt so close to the bitter taste of defeat, of uselessness. Over and over again, his mind cursed himself over how he didn’t notice sooner and how his trained eye never spotted the ploy happening barely metres away from him. Most of all, he cursed himself for letting them both be caught in this trap, for letting himself and Noct be seconds away from the edge of a deep, black abyss that would swallow them whole and break so that they could never reopen their eyes again. Of all the things he promised he would do, this one was always at the top: he would keep Noct safe, allow the man to leave to see the sunrise even if he wasn’t by his side like he said he would be. If time wasn’t such a cruel demon that allowed him to see what would become but not stop it, he would’ve used these last moments to say his last words to Noct, to maybe even attempt to shield the man from the blast no matter how futile it would be with the specks of time they had left to share.

Still, he raised his sword, blocking another strike from Ardyn, even with the battle coming to its end he wouldn’t die without a fight. Just as he was about to step to the side, seeing the man’s purple radiated hand rise, ready to fling his body and cover Noct as much as he could, he felt a sharp pain to his side and his back fell on a familiar cold, hard ground, the air knocked out of him.

Breathing in deep to prevent a scratchy cough rising from his throat, he looked up at where he previously stood, fear and surprise etched into his body, his mind unable to process what took place yet his heart retched and stung like it already knew.

Then, he saw it.

A blur, a bright purple light, his Noct standing there, breathing hard with his sword raised against his chest, Prompto watched in paralyzed horror as the blast collided with the man’s chest and he was sent soaring across the room, a large crack sounded when he hit the wall and fell loosely to the floor, unmoving.

A beat passed, two, a few heavy breaths heaving through his lips, a small whisper at that moment was all his frozen mind could manage, “Noct…”, he stared wide eyed at the man on the floor, receiving no response, then louder he yelled, “NOCT!”.

He scrambled to his feet, clumsily rushing to Noctis’ body on the floor, he couldn’t breathe, he could barely think and when he reached his side and saw those closed eyes he almost screamed, tempted to pull his hair out and tear everything apart.

“Noct!?”, he tried, “NOCT! TALK TO ME! LOOK AT ME... please”, still nothing, the eyes never twitched or opened and when Prompto placed his hand on the too still face it felt cold to the touch. His second hand came to rest on Noctis’ waist, he leaned forward close to his ear. “Please, please”, he whispered, the hand cupping Noct’s cheek becoming firmer, more desperate, “please, don’t leave me, you have to live Noct, you have to… please”.

Still nothing. He ceased his pleas with his throat feeling hoarse and dry. Slowly he lifted his head to see Noct’s pale face lay still, he took in a shaking breath, burying his nose into the side of Noctis’ hair, savouring one last peaceful moment between them as he felt his heart tear inside out, painfully ripping in two. Before he rose to leave the man at peace, he placed a goodbye kiss on the corner of his lips, closing his eyes he sent one last silent plea. Then he stood from his broken place on the ground.

Nothing was left.

A cold gush of wind seeped through the many holes in the walls, tousling his hair as he stood, his eyes narrowed, his feet dead set on the ground. Empty, he couldn’t feel a thing, except a feeling of deep rage, an anger that took control of him, so he could no longer sense the hurt or pain that he felt kneeling helpless on the floor. Red clouded his vision, his hands tightened into strong fists, his teeth gnawing creating sounds of unnerving grinding. He had never been through anything like it, no battle or hunt had ever had him becoming like this, like a beast ready to tear its prey into tiny pieces, wanting nothing more then to hear the sounds of it suffering. His dead set sight never left Ardyn, who stood frozen on the floor, fear laced into his eyes, he could barely hold his sword, its blade leaning against the ground as his obvious weakness showed, his last attacked draining him of too much power.

Leisurely, Prompto took his time to stride across the floor, picking up his discarded blade on his way to his target, stopping metres away from it. He raised his sword, practically inviting Ardyn to strike, to have the first swing.

Ardyn staggered forward, clumsily attempting to strike his arm, which was avoided all too easily. He tried again, which was blocked just as swiftly, then again and again, every attempt tossed to the side like it was nothing. Still, Prompto didn’t make a move to strike back no matter how many opportunities there was. The irritation grew within Ardyn the longer it went on, his attacks coming harsher now yet still just as unstable and easily blocked.

Eventually he stopped, huffing air out of his heaving chest, he sword loosely grasped within his hand lightly shifted side to side with the lack of strength in his hold.

“Why… why won’t you fight back?”, a broken voice asked, raw and pissed off, a silent edge of knowing defeat carved into it.

Taking another step forward, Prompto raised his sword, poised for a perfect hit, his empty eyes stared into Ardyn’s narrowed ones, feeling nothing. “I’m going to make you pay for what you’ve done. Every. Last. Thing”, he declared, hollow and grave, he didn’t recognise the voice that spoke, it was a stranger to his own. Perhaps, after today, that was how it would stay.

Ardyn’s irritated eyes widened in fear or maybe realisation as he tried to lift his sword, his arm shaking, he struggled with its weight. Wasting no more time, Prompto struck, fierce and strong, he landed a direct hit, ripping Ardyn’s arm deeply. Sharply yelling, he dropped his sword, the metal clanging against the ground, he gripped his leaking wound, unable to avoid the next flurry of attacks. Prompto was merciless, aiming for every weak point, every nerve, every joint, he was relentless, never missing or stopping, not when Ardyn kept screaming in pain nor when he staggered back numerous times. There was no remorse, no hesitance, he was being exactly what Ardyn had taught him to be; a cold, ruthless weapon.

Finally, with the blood pooling at his feet, Ardyn lost all strength in his legs and fell to his knees, weak and helpless on the floor, coughing and sputtering blood, his hands trying to cover as many as the deep cuts as they could, yet the waterfall of blood still seeped through his fingers, staining as they flowed.

Placing his foot against Ardyn’s chest, Prompto slammed the man to the ground, towering over him, watching him flail in his own bed of blood. Stepping to the side of the still moving body, Prompto rested his sword on Ardyn’s neck, firm enough that a small cut formed and decorated his blade.

“So…”, Ardyn chuckled lowly ending with a large, heavy cough, “This is it, you’ve done it, you’ve won”.

It didn’t feel like winning, nowhere close, in fact it all felt the exact same as when Prompto had rose from Noctis’ place on the floor; nothing. He should be next to him, they should be together, celebrating saving the lives of the people on the battlefield and avenging those who had suffered.

“How do you feel? Not the glamourous winning you wanted, no, but you still won. Like a big hero saving the day, tell me, do you feel heroic for this? For taking my life?”. A grin shone of Ardyn’s face, blooding dripping from the sides, a sickening happy look on his face. “Because the way I see it, you’re doing exactly what I’ve done in the past and what I’m being punished for. Tell me, dear Prompto, what does that make you, huh?”.

One, two, three seconds past, Ardyn’s smile never fading just as Prompto’s blade never moved, he gripped the handle, the words meaning nothing to him.

“Guess I’m a killer too”.

Ardyn’s smile was wiped, his eyes blown open, Prompto lifted his blade and swung down, slicing his neck. There was a small chocking sound from Ardyn’s teared throat, then the man’s eyes went dull and all sound stopped.

This time, he was down for good, no rising back up or fighting back, he was dead.

Raising his sword, a final time, Prompto tossed it to the other side of the room, the sight of it sickening. Not for the deed he had committed with it but for the uselessness of it, the job hadn’t been done soon enough. Once again, he hadn’t been quick enough to save someone.

A cheer sounded outside, the people of the castle were shouting words of joy, amongst them Prompto could pick out some of it. With Ardyn dead, the beasts were gone, the magic feeding them existence no longer walked this earth. He could hear cries of relief, cries of loved one’s reuniting and weapons being tossed down to the ground in satisfying victory.

He found no joy in their cheers.

Ardyn’s body and blood hissed and sizzled on the floor, dissolving until it became nothing more than thin air, leaving no trace of the stupid battle and the bitter victory.

He didn’t want to move, he didn’t want to breathe, he didn’t want to exist. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to fade away. Hesitantly he turned around, as if prolonging the reality would change it and Noct would no longer be lying there still, he’d be standing, smiling, about to run into his arms so they could share this moment together. Instead he saw the exact same thing he walked away from, Noctis hadn’t moved an inch, no signs of life coming from him, his body still sprawled on the ground.

One final deep breath to try to keep himself together and he staggered towards him, every slow step a strain on his legs, but he pushed on. When he finally reached him, he fell to his knees, his eyes wandering Noct’s still form.

With it all over and the emotion of anger and fury for the dead man earlier gone, the numbness edge away, a deep pain cutting his chest, he lifted Noctis’ upper body up off the floor cradling him against his chest. Tears streamed down his cheeks, deep sorrow killing his heart, he cupped Noct’s cheek with one hand, gently brushing some of his fallen hair and raising his pale face up. Resting his forehead on Noct’s, what was left of his heart tore into little pieces, settling themselves into a deep darkness he couldn’t locate. “Please, please don’t go… you’re all I have left, I- I need you.”, he whispered, broken. “Without you I-”, a choke cut off his words, his tears gliding freely on his cheeks. With little strength left to speak, Prompto leaned forward, leaving a gentle lingering kiss on Noct’s lips, feeling no warmth and tasting only the salt from his tears. Keeping his face close, he whispered one final plea, “Come back to me”.

Then, everything went white.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter actually made me sad to write so i am sharing that sadness with you.
> 
> soooo, enjoy?
> 
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> Come talk to meh on tumblr.
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> Is there something ya want me to write? An idea for a short fic i could do? then send those ma way too


	30. No one likes sad endings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...

 

White; a blinding light clouded his vision, seizing control of his eyes. What was it people always said? Don’t go into the light, but this was different. A glowing, pure abyss surrounded him, the warmth emitting from it beyond welcome, its feeling not anything like the chilling hand of death. Sucking in a hard breath, he savoured the moment, somehow the world he left behind forgotten, the pain and misery of winning a worthless battle without _him_ faded, nothing existed, and nothing mattered. All he knew was the gentle embrace this light gave him. The temporary manipulation lasted seconds, then, like smoke, it parted from him bit by bit, every comfort or contentment gone as though he never got a taste. It left a sore, throbbing pain at the back of his head, his tears fluidly linked with the watering of his eyes from the flash, reminding him of being disturbed by the sun’s intense gaze on an early morning. When it had completely faded, the powerful force of grief gripped him once more, the pain flooding into his no longer full heart, returning to its home at the centre. His eyes hesitantly returned to the source of his love and pain, widening as shock paralyzed him, freezing whatever tears he had left to shed and the unbearable ache in his heart.

Looking down, the Noctis he knew no longer laid in his arms; there were no horns on top of his head or slight fur on his jaw where Prompto’s hand laid, shaking, he moved his thumb along, feeling smooth skin underneath. Darting from his face to his body, the changes were even more noticeable; no longer did Noct take on a beast-like form, his hands laying on his stomach weren’t furred paws with large claws, but were simple human hands with slender long fingers, his feet were just the same and the rest of his chest, legs and every part of him were rid of fur, even his body frame appeared smaller, more slim, everything had changed. And yet, he was still Noct. Not better, not worse, just different, yet still the same.

Impossible to believe, all of it, his eyes telling him what couldn’t possibly be true; an ethereal dream happening before him, one so fragile he was scared to breathe less he break it.

Then, a breath. A small shift under Prompto’s touch, unmistakeable this close; Noctis’ chest rose and fell, and repeated, it didn’t stop. A sound, what could’ve been a light gasp fled from Noctis’ lips, along with it, a small sense of hope.

“…Noct?”

If this was a dream, he prayed he would never wake.

Dark eyebrows scrunched together, his eyes crinkled.

And those blue, perfect eyes opened.

Their focus seemed lost for a few moments, the blue twinkling in the low light, Noctis narrowed his eyes, a concentrated gaze looking up at him. Then, he closed them tight and reopened them for his sight to be cleared and for those drawn eyebrows and narrowed stare to be released into a wide-eyed look.

Attempting to open his mouth, his hoarse voice rang out against the broken walls, “Prom? I- what…”. Those transformed finger lifted and reached toward Prompto’s chest, slowly at first, only for him to lunge and tightly grip Prompto’s shirt. “What…?”, Noct’s eyes stared wide at his hands, his fingers trembling, slowly loosening their grip as he rotated it side to side, little by little in disbelief, “I- I’m- “. Uncertain blue eyes searched deep inside Prompto’s, scared of the hopeful light growing in them.

Prompto smiled, something he didn’t think he would be able to do again, and grasped Noct’s floating hand, that swayed, lost in the air, “It’s real Noct…looks like that bright light gave you a makeover”, he playfully jested, easing the dense atmosphere in the room, helping his own heart and Noct’s fears.

Squeezing back, Noctis’ hope grew into a blazing flame, an adorable smile on his face as he stared at their joined hands. His eyes eventually left them and steadily headed down, checking his body, his legs, his arms and then double checking to confirm it was real.

“I- I can’t believe it”. That face returned to Prompto’s, a glimmer in his eye and a happy spring to his voice.

It was almost impossible to believe that the man had been dead only minutes before.

Flashes of the still, cold body flooded Prompto’s mind, despite the happiness that had repaired most of his broken heart, the lasting effect of the grief and sadness still lingered even with that smiling face so close to his.

He was still terrified this was all a dream, and in a blink of an eye it will all go away.

Noctis’ smile slowly faded as he saw the look on Prompto’s face, concern replacing it instead. “Prom? You ok?”, he asked, his face turning sour he mumbled, “of course you’re not, stupid question”.

Those fears, the nightmares that plagued his mind would not ruin the reality he saw now, he would not be the cause of the solemn look on Noctis’ face, after all this the only thing he had wanted was to see those blue eyes and a smile again, he had that, he wasn’t going to let the past grip it in its icy, cold hands and remove the warmth in his arms.

He pulled Noctis into a tight hug, his arms firmly wrapped around his waist, making it all become real in his head, making himself believe it wasn’t the end and this wasn’t a dream, that the weight in his arms existed. Noctis returned the hug just as fast, his arms clutching around his neck desperately. The feel of the man in his arms was smaller and lighter, and his fingers in his hair felt different, but the warm heat and smell of the castle’s hallways combined with the flowers that sat next to Noctis’ wardrobe made it all unmistakingly: Noct. It was him, he was here, and he wasn’t going anywhere. Bit by bit, his mind eased, and with it, his heart became whole again.

“You scared the life outta me, you know?”, Prompto whispered close to Noctis’ ear, not caring how pathetic he sounded.

Just above his collarbone, where Noctis’ head lay, warm tears slide down his skin. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!”.

Pulling back slightly so their foreheads nearly touched, Prompto wiped away the stray tears from Noctis cheeks, keeping his hand in place even when no more fell. “Don’t you _ever_ do that again, got it?”, it was meant as scolding but Prompto couldn’t stop the sad smile as he said it, and the words sounded nowhere near commanding.

“Promise”, Noctis smiled, sweet enough that Prompto couldn’t help but believe him.

A whisper of, “good”, got lost in the air between them where they sat, still, and in no hurry to break what they had truly earned; a moment of just them and nothing else. All the hardships of the past could be forgotten within the exchanged of breath and touch and just knowing that they were ok, that they were all ok.

Somewhere, off far in the distance, cheers continued singing their song, the people’s excitement for the new day had not wavered yet. Tears of joy, along with shouts of praise joined together to produce one big celebration, despite whatever injuries or losses they might have sustained. The sound would be deafening to his ears if he was not fixated by the man in front of him.

“What about Ardyn?”, Noctis asked, his voice teetering on fear and apprehension.

Prompto didn’t miss a beat, “gone”, he assured quickly, not letting that man’s past existence ruin the smile on Noct’s face.

Sighing deeply, Noctis rested his head on Prompto’s shoulder, all tension leaving within his muscles disappearing, “Thank you”.

“What are you thanking me for? We did it together”.

“Still… just, thank you”, he repeated, raising his head and, for the first time since he woke up, staring outside. A soft twinkle in his eyes with the sounds of the people. Somewhere amongst the shouts, Prompto could’ve sworn he heard a cry of, “We’re human again!”, and that was the only clear sentence he heard.

Noctis must’ve picked up on it too, his widened eyes snapping back to Prompto with brilliant light and hope.

“Shall we go downstairs and join them?”, Prompto asked, chuckling. As much as he would love to stay a little longer with just them in this safe haven, he could see the excitement and eagerness of seeing his people, alive and happy, in Noctis.

He nodded, pulling back from Prompto’s arms, and sitting up with his hands braced against the floor. Without a body encased within his hold, Prompto rose from the ground, his legs sore and his body protesting with the need of rest, yet he stood strong and sturdy, surprised at how much energy he still had left.

Noctis didn’t look so lucky.

Still sat on the floor, Noctis’ hands shook trying to raise himself up, his face contorted in pain. He barely manged to get on his knees before a whimper of pain halted everything, breathing in short, sharp breathes. He kept his defeated look to the ground, making no attempt to keep trying.

Concerned, Prompto knelt back down, doing a quick check for any deep wounds or spilling blood, he found none, yet it didn’t help the worry in his heart. “You ok?”.

“Just… hurts”, Noctis breathed, nodding his head slowly, “I’m fine”.

Not convinced, Prompto held out his hand, “Need some help?”.

Still struggling to catch his breath, Noctis locked eyes with him, carefully taking hold of the offered help to not cause further pain.

“Can you stand?”.

Pride didn’t affect his answer for once, Noctis admittingly shook his head, his bangs falling over his eyes.

Prompto smirked, tenderly shifting the hair away from Noct’s eyes, smiling when he could see the blue in full view, “guess I’ll have to carry you”.

Noctis groaned, though a smirk lifted away his pained expression.

 

“Again?”

 

 

Somehow, Prompto managed to get himself and Noct down the large flight of stairs to the outside, managing to cause little discomfort to the prince, who clung onto his neck the whole way down, even with both of them deeply swallowed within the hold of exhaustion.

Outside; a whole new world had opened up.

No longer did grey clouds scatter themselves around the sky, guarding the sun’s rays, the light now decorating the slightly damaged but living garden, twinkling off the marble statues and little life flowers. A new day had dawned. There was no evidence of the damp chill from inside the tower out here, a warm breeze danced with fallen leaves and cheering children, a warm blanket to the harsh coldness that they had been submerged in. Finally, further ahead, alongside the chipped décor stood the people.

Battered, bruised and bloody, but still alive. Breathing. No longer did they shed tears of pain or screams of terror, instead they cried in joy of being reunited with those who had been safely locked inside and screamed in victory of the won battle they had all faced. And that wasn’t the only change. Like Noct, they no longer pictured the beast-like form, all fur, paws and claws had been completely wiped, their images changed to what they must’ve looked like before all of this. And, like him, they seemed to bask in the joy of their returning appearance; holding hands and caressing faces just to confirm it was real.

It was beyond a perfect picture.

“Noctis! Prompto!”, a voice bellowed, somewhere hidden in the crowd, yet recognisable all the same, heavy running footsteps joining it. _Gladio._

Emerging from the crowd stood Ignis, Gladio, Luna and Iris together, changed and happy, looking beyond relived when they saw them.

Reaching them, they encircled around; Ignis and Luna went straight to checking the injuries they had sustained, Prompto insisting he was fit enough to keep carrying Noct, Gladio lightly bumped shoulders with him and ruffled Noctis’s hair, clearly careful of the cuts they and Gladio himself had, Iris also checked over Noct, though in a slightly different way, commenting of how he had also returned back to how his was, making them both thoroughly check her eyes and see the vast difference in colour.

“You’re sure you’re both alright?”, Ignis asked for the third time, still visibly troubled by Noctis’ carried state.

Noctis rolled his eyes, “We’re fine Iggy, just tired is all”, he replied, opting not to talk about his near-death experience.

A little more convinced, Ignis smiled and nodded, pushing his fallen glasses back up with his reformed hands.

Luna stepped forward, placing her hand on Prompto’s shoulder, she hushed her voice to a low tone, edging with worry, “I hate to ask but… Ardyn is he…?”.

“He’s gone Luna”, Noctis repeated, looking up at Prompto, “thanks to him, he’s gone for good”.

“Thanks to us”, Prompto added, “to everyone”.

Noctis didn’t argue, he only nodded and proceeded to bury his head into Prompto’s chest, contently sighing.

A little away from them, the cheers had quietened, a few crowds were now facing in their direction. Still smiling, still standing. Bit by bit, they all silenced when the news of Noctis’ and Prompto’s return had spread, every last person looked to them now. Waiting for the word from their king. One they may have to wait until later to hear, though he was pleased to see his people, he had no energy for a speech just yet.

“I’ll handle this”, Luna whispered, knowingly, her pointed gaze overseeing the crowd, “You two head inside, the castle didn’t sustain much damage, you’ll be safe to rest in Noct’s quarters”.

Thanking her and wishing her a good luck, Prompto whisked Noctis away inside and headed to his room. Luna was better at this kind of stuff anyway. And with how long the battle went on for, he imagined she would keep it short and concentrate more on helping the wounded. Celebrations could commence later.

Closing the door to Noctis’ room, Prompto gently lay the prince on his bed, moving the cushions behind him, which Noct happily leaned against.

“Now, be honest”, Prompto sat himself down next to him, his legs yelling in relief, “Where are you hurt?”.

Noctis closed his eyes, “Truthfully?”, he breathed, “everywhere. Nothing fatal or bleeding, I’m just sore”.

“Is it alright if I check anyway?”, he asked, already urging his body to get back up to get some medical supplies and towels.

Noct’s tired eyes popped open, “as long as I can just sit here, you can do whatever you like”.

“Oh really? Anything?”, he cockily replied, stepping inside the bathroom.

A loud, unimpressed groan followed, “Shut up”.

Inside the bathroom, grabbing a towel and rinsing it under a running tap, Prompto could only chuckle, fetching all that he needed and returning to his waiting prince.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pfffftttt, like I would ever do a sad ending, bish plz, the game was sad enough without me adding to it
> 
>  
> 
> Have a good night/ day
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> Come talk to meh on tumblr.
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> Is there something ya want me to write? An idea for a short fic i could do? then send those ma way too


	31. Another day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Healing takes time, but they had each other to get through it.

 

Day by day, they all healed. Sound slowly started to enter the hallways, people’s injuries not stopping their tired smiles. There had been loses, there always was going to be, the second day all attended the funeral, tears streaking down broken faces, nobody could smile that day, or the next. But, bit by bit, it got better. Those that could, continued to rebuild the castle, only making minor fixes and applying a splosh of paint to return it to its previous state for the people bedridden and in recovery. Luckily not one of the injured died in their care, Noctis didn’t think his kingdom could take another funeral after these few harsh days.

The first night had been the worst one, despite the joy of the victory and of living to see another day, when he and Prompto had laid to bed that night, Noctis’ stomach and most of his chest bandaged and sore, his back filled with bruising, he had no choice but to lie on his side cautiously, unable to help the wincing and small cries of pain and how they caused the blonde next to him so much concern. Even with their injuries, they held onto each other tight that night, both struggling against their eyes closing and being unable to see and check over the other. Sometime late in the night, Noctis couldn’t fight anymore and fell asleep before Prompto, feeling a warm hand being placed over his heart. He knew Prompto didn’t get any sleep that night, he had felt safe knowing those violet and blue eyes were watching over him, but he couldn’t help the guilty feeling of knowing that Prompto’s worries of him were the reason he couldn’t rest. The next night was better, but Noctis had a feeling that Prompto never got enough sleep until around the fifth night.

Afterwards, when everything seemed a little brighter, the next few weeks were spent in each other’s company, only separating their cuddling sessions on Noctis’ bed to grab food, visit the others on status updates and replace cooling bandages on partially burnt skin. Ardyn had done a number on them, and though he tried to hide it, Noctis could see the pain deep in Prompto’s eyes as the blonde insisted on taking care of the prince himself. It would be a while before they could properly speak about what happened that day. Until then, they simply basked in the knowledge and warmth of each other, hands on heart when they fell asleep just to reassure themselves that they were alive, both of them. Sleep felt less of a strain and the worries of death started to fade away to the back of their minds.

Eventually, the third week came and almost everything was back to how it was. Medical rooms were mainly empty, save for a few lingering souls recovering from the last of their scars, the castle was completely rebuilt and even the garden had been brought to life again, the flowers blooming in the green space. A meeting of sorts was held in the ballroom, large enough for all to fit in and hear. Noctis gave one final speech of the bravery and losses of the war they survived through, trying not to dwell on the past and the parts they couldn’t change, instead he focused on the thing he had always wanted to do and, until Prompto stumbled into their lives, what was always impossible to achieve. He set them free.

And he had never heard a cheer like it.

 

Many of the castle dwellers left after his words had been spoken, leaving to find the family that had escaped the curse and therefore they hadn’t seen in years. Luna tended to them all, making sure that the ones leaving left with enough food, water, sleeping arrangements and a mode of transport, that Prompto had silently smuggled from the village a few days prior even with Noctis scolding him for doing something so reckless in his state.

A few still stayed behind, mainly the previous castle staff and those whose families had been apart of Noctis’ kingdom for generations. However, this time, they planned to transform the castle from the prison it had been into the kingdom it should be, reconnecting it to the world. Noctis wouldn’t let things return to how they were. Things were going to be different, he was going to build the kingdom his father had always wanted, making his castle be known to neighbouring villages and towns. No more hiding.

And the first step was revisiting Prompto’s previous home.

With his human form returned, their welcome had been more pleasant. Eagerly, Prompto had showed him around the village, a vast amount of its members questioning where the blonde had gone to, and clearly relieved he was back, the news of the beasts’ destruction had not reached them yet. That was information Noctis would disclose in all good time as part of his kingdom’s future.

Locals repeatedly gave Noctis odd looks, ones not of fear but confusion and some of the older citizens seemed to have a glimmer of recognition with some small doubt in their eyes, not stopping them as Prompto continued to lead them through the streets, targeting one particular store; a bakery.

The blonde had been more than excited to arrive at the building soaked with smells of fresh goods and a warmth that drew cold, tired wanderers off the streets.

“Prompto?”, a female voice with a strong accent called.

A short haired blonde woman stood only a short distance behind them, carrying two bags, quite pretty with a white apron that had clear marks and stains, her eyes wide with shock directed at a frozen still Prompto. She dropped the bags, not seeming to notice the contents flooding out of their freed plastic cage and rushed forwards, jumping into Prompto’s arms, her arms hung tight around his neck.

Shining in the sun’s brilliant light, a wide smile burst free on Prompto’s face, returning the hug just as eagerly. “Cindy…”, he quietly spoke.

Noctis couldn’t help feeling the little twinge of jealously as petty as it was.

They pulled back, both still smiling at each other, until Cindy smile quickly turned sour, a displeased frown etched onto her face as she pushed at Prompto’s shoulder, looking more than a little angry. “Where the hell have ya been? First, I hear that no good for nothin’ Cora has gone missing, then that pig Ardyn, then _you_ disappear without a word the only explanation I have bein’ that you were helping some random strangers!”.

Though the push wasn’t hard and didn’t budge him, Prompto still held his hands up in surrender, his smile turning nervous, “Uh… yeah… I- uh, sorry. I should’ve been more honest with you and – uh, I should’ve written you a letter or something… sorry”, he apologised, scratching the back of his head, “things got a little complicated”.

Her eyes narrowed, “I don’t know what that means or what the hell happened, but you better tell me and papa the whole story later, you got it?!”.

“Yeah, of course, you have my word”.

“And you!”, Noctis gaze shifted to see the still very pissed off woman glaring at him, “Are you the one who he disappeared for, the so-called secret group of people who needed his help? You better have a damn good explanation”.

Nervous of the woman who looked like she was about to give him the scolding of a lifetime, he spluttered out his words, his face burning, “I-uh, well- I…um”.

“What’s going on out here?”.

A male, grave voice sounded from the bakery’s doorway where a greying, elderly man stood, his countenance of deep irritation and blatant curiosity. Noctis could’ve sworn he had seen the man somewhere else before. Striding towards them, that disapproving frown quickly vanished, a blank slate replacing it, impossible to read, though there was a slight twitch to his eyebrow.

“So, you disappear off the face off the earth and worry everyone”, the man spoke, directly towards Prompto, “And now you’ve returned, you bring the Prince of Lucis with ya. Just what kind of nonsense have you been up to Prompto?”.

“Prince?”, Cindy interrupted, quizzical, giving Noctis a long stare up and down.

Her words went ignored, Prompto only glancing sheepishly at her for a few seconds before placing a firm hand on the mystery man’s shoulder, appearing apologetic, “Good to see you too Cid, sorry if I worried you”.

_Cid…_

He knew that name. Why did he know that name?

Gently, Cid removed himself from under Prompto’s grasp, stubbornly smiling while trying to continue scolding the man, “Just don’t go wandering off again without a heads up first, you hear me?”. Once Prompto nodded, grinning, Cid eyes landed on Noctis, a knowing light hidden in their depths. He went straight to the point which Noctis was beyond grateful for, “Prince Noctis, I knew your father”.

Silence. Noctis felt the air leave his lungs, no one other than the people who worked at the castle knew his father, or at least, no one remembered him, their kingdom had become a ghost town with no outsiders recalling its legacy or his father’s name. He never thought he would ever meet an outsider that not only knew his father but recognised Noctis’ face too.

Breathless and confused, all he could manage was an, “…How?”.

Waiting on shortening breath, Noctis felt a soft touch on his palm then a firmer grip of his hand as Prompto stepped closer to his side, rubbing comforting circles on Noctis’ hand.

Watching them, Cid softly smiled.

“Come on inside, I have a lot to tell ya”.

 

 

They were directed to a back room inside the bakery. After a quick hug and reassurance, he wouldn’t just ‘disappear’, Cindy returned to deal with customers while Cid sat them all around on a small table, Prompto purposely sitting right next to Noctis, a comforting and strong presence that held him up.

“Before, before everything went to hell, before the war had begun”, Cid started, a grave, hard expression on his face, “your father and I were close friends, brothers even, despite your father never taking a god damn break from work, we always managed to keep in touch.”, he sighed, taking off his cap as he did so, “I remember visiting the castle and meeting you for the first time, you were much tinier then”, a small chuckle, “I also remember the last time I saw you, barely a child… a few days before your father’s death he asked a favour of me, he knew his health wasn’t getting any better, so he asked me to do one thing, just one… and I failed him”. Cid stopped, heaving a small breath, his hard-working hands sliding down his face, he looked directly into Noctis’ eyes. “He asked me to take you away, to leave the kingdom and raise you until you were strong enough to come back. Your father was smart, a good leader, he knew that when his time had come, the kingdom would be at its weakness and vulnerable to every and any attacks, the last thing he wanted was for his child to experience war and to have such a burden to bear… But the night he died, I wasn’t there in time, reports had already come in of your disappearance. I packed a bag, taking my Cindy with me, and we searched far and wide for you, I didn’t want my friend’s last wish to die with him”.

“But… I had to stop, for Cindy’s stake, I wanted my girl to have a home, so I could raise her properly. Years later and it was like nothing had ever happened, no one knew about your father or the kingdom… I never found out what happened. As years went by, I assumed the worst and never continued my search, maybe I just didn’t want to confirm my fear, I was a coward”.

“I’m sorry for failing you, Prince Noctis”.

Warm tears slid down Noctis’ cheeks, his heart retching at the memory of his father, the words touching, yet breaking.” You don’t need to apologise, it wasn’t your fault, I- “, he bowed his head in shame, “I was the coward, I was the one who ran”.

Beside him, he could feel the gentle touch of Prompto’s hand taking hold of his, becoming his comfort once again.

Cid chuckled, “You are far from a coward, my boy”.

Noctis weakly rose his head, seeing the older gentleman’s kind eyes and smile, the words helping him meet those eyes head on without shame or doubt shoving him into hiding. Quickly wiping away his tears, his cheeks warming to an embarrassed red.

“You were a scared little boy”, Cid shrugged, “No one could’ve changed that, you were only a child that had lost their father, not a grown king ready to bear the weight of the kingdom. Now, I don’t know much about what happened after I left, but I do know this”, he leaned forward, his voice filled with heart, “Your father would be proud”.

One beat, two beats, Noctis could feel his heart speeding, the tears resuming, and he didn’t have the strength to fight them away. “Thank- Thank you”, he chocked.

Prompto’s free arm wrapped around his waist, pulling him to towards his chest, the prince happily let him, seeking out the warmth and familiarity of the embrace.

 

That evening after the bakery had closed, they all sat together and told their own stories. Reviving the kingdom to the world could wait until tomorrow. Afterall, they had all the time in the world. Prompto explained his disappearance to the two bakers, while Noctis backed him up, Cid went further with his past with Noctis’ father, telling the young prince all he knew, Noctis had never felt so close to his father. Once their conversation led late into the night, Cid and Cindy offered for them to stay the night in their spare room and with Prompto’s reluctance to return to his own house, not that Noctis could blame him, they accepted the kind offer.

Lying close together under the pale moon light seeping through the window, the curtains purposefully parted to light the room. Noctis had settled himself on top on Prompto’s chest, one of his heads resting underneath his head while the other he gazed at, rotating it side to side, slowly caressing each finger with his thumb and repeating, so different to the claws and fur he had ripped at, torn himself apart over and despised every single day. No longer was there a sinking feeling every time he looked in the mirror or caught his reflection in the windows, there was only the reality of warmth. All because of the beating heart underneath him.

Prompto’s fingers weaved through his hair, a relaxing touch, while his other hand had gripped around Noctis’ hips, a firm touch, all grounding him to a soft contented state. Reminders of the realness of it all.

Here, together like this, he had never felt so safe.

So happy.

So…loved.

“Something on your mind?”, Prompto quietly asked, faint as not to disturb the perfect calmness around them.

Noctis stopped moving his hand, he raised himself up slightly, so he could look directly at the blonde. “I- “, he hesitated, darting his eyes quickly to the side as a small clutter of nerves made home in his chest. The gentle touch in his hair moved down to cup his cheek, Prompto steadily turned his head until Noctis found himself returning to the captivity of those beautiful eyes. Concern was written across the blonde’s face, a frown forming the longer Noctis took to speak.

“Noct?”.

The amount of emotion in that face from one small minute of silence was touching, the nerves turning to something warmer in his heart. Noctis smiled, “I love you”.

Prompto eyes widened, clearly caught off guard, then he smirked, leaning down so he could snuzzle Noctis’ nose with his own. “Was that all? You had me worried for a second there”.

Noctis pouted, it was childish, but he pouted, “What do you mean ‘is that all’? “Are my feelings not important to you?”, he couldn’t hold his miffed façade, his pout breaking into a smile halfway through.

Grabbing his hand, Prompto chuckled, leaving gentle kisses against his knuckles, “Course they are. I didn’t mean to cause offence ‘your highness’”.

“Piss off”, Noctis laughed, pulling his hand back. Then, he leaned forward leaving a tender kiss on Prompto’s lips, before he could pull back Prompto chased his touch and captured Noctis’ lips, taking his time to explore every inch of them, sending shivers down the prince’s spine. Every kiss became more desperate, neither wanting to stop, both eager just to be close to each other.

Eventually, they broke away, both needing to catch their breath. Noctis’ heart was running rampant in his chest, he could barely get enough air, his struggling breath not helped by the fact that Prompto’s sparkling, intense eyes had captured him entirely. He couldn’t move, he definitely couldn’t speak.

Leaning closer again, Prompto’s thumb smoothly brushed Noctis’ cheek, whispering when their lips were seconds apart, “Love you too”.

And no moment in his life had ever felt so perfect.

 

Those walls that had protected him in his life; saved himself from pain and grief had also trapped himself in a prison, the walls of a royal who had only known to lead. Similar, yet better hidden walls had been fitted around the life of a hunter whose will had never been his own and whose past had been a fabrication; the walls of a cold-hearted killer who had only been taught three things.

 

They were Prompto Argentum and Noctis Lucis Caelum, their lives now theirs to live.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're at the end guys, for REAL this time. I never could do sad endings, me and them don't get along
> 
> I didnt get as much attention for this fic as my last but i am definitely much prouder of this one, my writing is slowly getting back to how it was. That said, those that have supported me through this: thank u, you'll all amazing with your views, kudos and comments.
> 
> i probably wont write fanfics for a little bit now, just cause i kinda wanna start writing my own story, i probs just do short stuff and one shots... that being said as i was finishing this another idea of a promptis fanfic came to my mind to add to the huge ass list i got and i really like the idea soooo... we'll see
> 
>  
> 
> Anyway, i hope u all enjoyed this little fic with me, it's been a blast, and i'll see u in the next one.
> 
> LEXAX OUT
> 
> Come talk to meh on tumblr.
> 
> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)  
> Is there something ya want me to write? An idea for a short fic i could do? then send those ma way too

**Author's Note:**

> [ma tumblr](http://lexzera.tumblr.com/)   
> 


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